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ARCANA 



OF 



SPIRITUALISM: 



A MANUAL OF 



Spiritual Science and Philosophy. 

BY HUDSON TUTTLE, 



* + 



AUTHOR OF "LIFE IN THE SPHERES," "ARCANA OF NATURE," " ORIGIN 
AND ANTIQUITY OF MAN," "CAREER OF THE GOD-IDEA IN HIS- 
TORY," "CAREER OF THE CHRIST-IDEA IN HISTORY," ETC. 



When Alps dissolve, and worlds shall fade away, 
When suns go out, and stars no longer blaze, 

I scarcely shall have reached my primal day. 
I, only I, can claim to be the real~ 
I am the type of Nature, — her Ideal. 

Spirit. 

The Soul is immortal. — Pythagoras. 




/ 

i 

BOSTON: 
ADAMS & CO., 25 BROMFIELD STREET 

1871. 

0/ ■ 



7* 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, 

By ADAMS & CO., 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 



Stereotyped by C. J. Peters&> Son, Boston. 



Printed hy Geo. P. Carter & Co. 



PREFACE. 




INE is the task of an amanuensis, writing 
that which is revealed to me. Doubtless 
I have often failed in my endeavor to compre- 
hend the meaning of the impressions I have re- 
ceived, or in clothing them with appropriate words. 
I presume many questions remain unanswered. 
The field of inquiry is vast as space and time ; 
and often there are not words to describe the 
spiritual realities and relations which hitherto have 
not been unfolded to mortal understanding. 

I have faithfully, carefully, and conscientiously 
presented my impressions as they have been given 
me by my masters, the invisible spirits, claiming 
neither the honor nor dishonor pertaining thereto. 
I have written in hours of pleasure and of pain ; 
when life was a joy, and when, overtasked, it be- 
came a weariness : but ever have I been cheered 
by the presence of spirit-friends, and, bathed in 
their magnetism, been supremely blessed. 



a Preface. 

I cannot resist expressing my thanks to the 
many friends who have aided me in publishing 
and disseminating my previous works, and my 
appreciation of the kind words they have spoken 
and written. Many of them I may never meet 
on earth ; but they will be ever cherished in most 
sacred remembrance, until we clasp each other's 
hands on the "Ever Green Mountains of Life." 

H. T » 

Boston, 1870. 



CONTENTS. 



General Statement of Principles . . .13 

I. 

Introduction 19 

II. 

Evidences or Spiritualism : a Discussion of the 
various Theories advanced for its Exposition. 

The necessities of immortal being. Proofs of immor- 
tality drawn from the constitution of the mind. Science 
not necessarily conflicting. Are we self-deceived ? Unre- 
liability of the senses in the border-land. Hallucinations. 
The circle, — are its members hallucinated ? Theories 
examined. Evil spirits. The Devil. Electricity. Mag- 
netism. Od force. Failure of any one theory to explain 
all phenomena. Interposition of spirits must be accepted. 
Identification of spirits 25 

III. 

Evidences of Spiritualism. 

Materialism. The impossible. The positive. The 
senses. Belief educational. Why have not these phe- 
nomena occurred before ? Spirit is individualized force. 
One fact of more value than a thousand theories. How 
is it possible for spirits to return ? Not new. First man- 



6 Contents. 

ifestations. They assume a new character. They extend 
to other localities. Spiritualism in France. Unexpected 
report. The evidence of psychometry. Spirit-identifica- 
tion by psychometry. What good? Personal experience 58 

IV. 

Matter and Force: their Relations to Spirit. 

The present tendency of thought. Force. Motion,— 
resolution of into heat, light, electricity, magnetism. 
Atomic attraction. Chemical affinity. Theories. Spec- 
ulations. Grand cycle of correlation. Cause of motion 
in living beings. Cause of heat, light, electricity. Rela- 
tion of this doctrine to life. Intelligence. Spirit . . 9 1 

V. 

Physical Matter and Spirit. 

Divisibility of matter. Its eternity. What is matter ? 
What an atom ? An attribute ? A principle ? Proper- 
ties ? Resolution of all phenomena. The chemical atom. 
The basis of positive science. The theory of atoms and 
of forces. Shape of the atom. Space, is it an entity ? 
The old notion of the impenetrability and inertia of mat- 
ter discarded. Cause of change in properties by chem- 
ical union. The atom nothing : force everything. The 
highest philosophical ground. The spiritual sense . 



116 



VI. 

Spiritual Atmosphere of the Universe, 

Instrument employed in investigation. The impressi- 
bility of the brain. Impressibility of animals. Sympathy 
a form of impressibility. Influence of the external world 
on the nervous system. Reichenbach's experiments. In- 
fluence of magnets. Influence of crystals. Crystallic 



Contents. 7 

flame. Impartation of influence. Polarity of the body. 
Abnormal sensitiveness of the diseased. Disease and 
sleep. Influence of the moon. Of the sun. Of locality. 
Of churchyard ghosts. The image sometimes remains. 
Individual spheres. Conclusions 133 

VII. 

Relation of the Spiritual to the Animal in Man. 

The lower faculties of the mind traced in the animal 
world. Their necessity. The spirit cannot lose any of 
its propensities at death. Instinct never misdirects. Per- 
fectly selfish. Man never satisfied. Sin, cause of. The 
animal faculties united with the intellect, insatiable. Their 
true relations. Illustrations 164 

VIII. 

Animal Magnetism, — its Boundaries, Laws, and 

Relation to Spirit. 

Necessity of investigating the laws of magnetism. Mag- 
netism among the ancients. Man possesses this influence 
over animals. Animals can influence man. Each other. 
Why do we think of those who are thinking of us ? In- 
fluence of man over man. Generalization. Atmospheric 
ether. Impressibility of the brain. Psychometry applied. 
Application to fortune-telling. Animal magnetism as a 
curative agent. Application to spirit -communion . .174 

IX. 

Spirit — -its Phenomena and Laws. 

Immortality the base of all religion. Tendency of sav- 
age mind. Definitions of spirit. Pre-existence. Evolu- 
tion of the spiritual body from the physical. Degrees of 
the magnetic state. Natural and induced. Illustrations 198 



8 Contents. 

X. 

Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 

Magnetism intensifies the spiritual perceptions. Not 
imagination. Clairvoyance : applied to the realm of spirit. 
Testimony of the seeress of Prevorst. Of Swedenborg. 
Spirits retain and appear in their earthly form. Do the 
senses of spirits recognize physical objects ? Does the 
spirit of the clairvoyant leave the body ? Double pres- 
ence. Impressions made on the mind never effaced. 
Prophecy . . . . . 222 

XI. 

Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 

Cause of failure. Value of Clairvoyance. Condition 
of the freed spirit. Can the spirit possess senses inde- 
pendent of the physical body ? The spiritual organism. 
The most subtle form of matter. An erroneous hypothe- 
sis. Electricity not employed. Progress of the elements. 
Spiritual elements realities. Spirits of animals. Spirit- 
ual attraction and repulsion. In the spiritual world the 
same law holds supreme. Why, if material, spirits can- 
not be seen. Why seek immortal existence outside of 
physical matter ? Origin of the spiritual body. How far 
the body affects the spirit 249 

XII. 

Philosophy of Death : a Review of some Old 

Theories. 

What is life ? What is death ? Christian idea of death 
terrible, but that of the ancient Greeks beautiful. Ter- 
rors of death. Myths of the resurrection of the body. 
Christianity takes a deep draught from Paganism. Mo- 
hammed receives the dogma of the resurrection. Teach- 
ings of the Bible. Resurrection of Christ . . . 269 



Contents. 9 

XIII. 

The Change called Death. 

Ultimate of nature's plan. Death is not change of 
being : it is change of spheres. The spirit and the body. 
Man should mature like the fruit of autumn before death. 
Death no occasion for rejoicing. The spirit after death. 
How received 282 

XIV. 

Mediumship. 

Mediumship and spirit-influence among savages. The 
Australians. The Maori. The African and New Zea- 
lander. Connection between the person and his name. 
The hermits of the Ganges. The Red Indian. The 
Pythonic oracles. Position of the medium. Why dis- 
reputable media are used. Sensitiveness does not exon- 
erate media for their waywardness. Mediumship consti- 
tutional. Impressibility, how induced. Mediumship. 
Mental excitement. Sickness. Fasting. Death. Or- 
ganic impressibility preferable to induced. Desire for 
mediumship. How to become a medium. Influence of 
individuals on the communications. A physical state 
negative to mediumship. Why communications are con- 
tradictory. Contradictions referred to the circle. How 
circles should be formed. Responsibility of mediumship 289 

XV. 

Mediumship during Sleep. 

Sleep. Dreams. Somnambulism. Spiritual commu- 
nications given in dreams. Presentiments. Prophetic 
dreams, origin of. Facts from Martineau. Abercrombie. 
Macnish. Addison. Coleridge. Dreams of animals. 
The dreaming dog. Presentiments. Mr. Calderhood, 



io Contents. 

Prof. Bohm. Of accidents. Future events. Death. Pro- 
phetic dreams. Susceptibility during sleep. . . .315 

XVI. 

Heaven and Hell, the Supposed Abodes of the 

Departed. 

Where located by the ancients. Beneath the earth. 
Above the clouds : between the earth and moon. Comets 
the location of hell. The childhood of the race outgrown. 
Heaven the actual of desires. Why another state is asked 
for. The " New Jerusalem." The popular idea. Elec- 
tion, how known. From whence come these dogmas. 
The terrors of hell. The joys of the redeemed . . 351 

XVII. 

The Spirit's Home. 

Law rules supreme. The same holds good in the spirit- 
world. No miracle. An unknown universe. What and 
where is the spirit- world ? The testimony of spirits relia- 
ble. What they say. Nature works in cycles. Where 
do the refined atoms go ? Form of the zones. Distance 
of the spheres from the earth's surface. Their thickness. 
Matter when it aggregates takes the form in which it ex- 
isted on earth. Relation of the spirit. Spirit-locomotion. 
Can they pass to other globes ? Relation of light to the 
spheres 375 

XVIII. 

Religious Aspect of Spiritualism. 

Spiritualism considered wanting in a vital system of 
ethics. Reasons offered by the church for doing right. 
Not an easy affair to become a Spiritualist. Spiritualism 
the essence of philosophy. Doctrine of salvation. We 



Contents. 1 1 

are responsible for the thoughts and actions of all others. 
The teachings of spirits on the moral capabilities of man. 
Equality in the future. The ideal of Spiritualism. How 
may it be obtained ? The object of being. The creed of 
Spiritualism 394 

XIX. 

The Old and the New. 

The Radical and Radicalism. Protestantism brings 
from Catholicism everything but the Pope. A religion of 
abnegation. Religionists not necessarily insincere. Is 
the present form of religion demanded ? Christian and 
infidel. Can Christianity live ? Churchianity bedridden. 
Churchianity dying. Spiritualism. Comprehends the uni- 
verse. An American religion. Perfectly democratic. 
Leaderless. Persistency and extension. The Spiritual- 
ist. Pleasures of a belief in Spiritualism. The coming 
contest. The totality of Spiritualism . . . .412 

List of Authorities 448 

Index 451 



SPIRITUALISM. 

GENERAL STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES. 

What is Spiritualism ? 

SPIRITUALISM is the knowledge of everything 
pertaining to the spiritual nature of man ; and, 
as spirit is the moving force of the universe in its 
widest scope, it grasps the domain of nature. It 
embraces all that is known, and all that ever can be 
known. It is cosmopolitan eclecticism, receiving all 
that is good, and rejecting all that is bad, (324, 9.) * 

Who are Spiritualists ? 

Those who believe that departed spirits commu- 
nicate with man, however else they disagree, are 
Spiritualists ; but only as they cultivate the noble 
faculties, and harmonize their lives, are they enti- 
tled to the name in its highest meaning. (330, 332.) 

Principles on which All Agree. 

There are certain fundamental principles on which 
all agree as forming the basis of the Spiritual philos- 
ophy. 

* The references indicate chapters and sections in the body 
of the work. 



14 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

Man a Dual Being. 

Man is a duality, — a physical structure and a 
spirit. The spirit is an organized form, evolved by 
and out of the physical body, having corresponding 
organs and development, (i 55, 6, 8.) 

Immortality. 
This spiritual being is immortal, (ii., iii.) 

Death. 

Death is the separation of this duality, and effects 
no change in the spirit, morally nor intellectually, 
(xii., xiii., 183, 219.) 

Relations of the Spirit to the Spirit- World. 

The spirit holds the same relations to the spirit- 
world that man holds to physical nature, (xvii., 189, 
190, 197.) 

A Future State of Awards* 

The spirit there, as here, works out its own salva- 
tion, receiving the reward of well-doing, and suffer- 
ing for wrongful action. 

Salvation — how Attained. 

Salvation is only attainable through growth. (305, 
312.) 

No Arbitrary Decree. 
There is no arbitrary decree, final judgment, or 



General Statement of Principles. 1 5 

atonement for wrong, except through the suffering 
of the guilty, (xvi., xvii.) 

Relation of the Earth-Life to Spirit-Being. 

The knowledge, attainment, and experience of the 
earth-life form the basis of the spirit-life. (159.) 

Destiny of Spirit. 

Progressive evolution of intellectual and moral 

power is the endless destiny of individual spirits. 

(152.) 

The Spirit-World. 

In the spirit-world, as on earth, we receive all we 
are capable of receiving ; all seeking congenial em- 
ployment, and gratifying their tastes, (xvii.) 

Hell and Heaven. 

Hell and heaven are not places, but conditions of 
mind. Inharmony is hell ; harmony, heaven, (xvi., 
271.) 

Origin of Spiritual Beings. 

All spiritual beings were eliminated from physical 
bodies. (157.) 

Grades. 

There are all grades, from the sage of ten thou- 
sand years to the idiot and infant, (xvii.) 

They are Frequent Visitors. 

They are often near those they love, and strive to 
warn, protect, and influence them. 



1 6 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

Mediumship. 

The departed, whatever may have been their 
moral or intellectual condition, can return, and com- 
municate through properly endowed mediums, (ii., 
xiv.) 

Character of their Influence. 

This influence may be for evil as well as for 
good. (247.) 

Communications Fallible. 

Communications from spirits must thus be fallible, 
partaking of the nature of their source. (245, 247.) 

All Communications from one Source. 

The spiritual communications of all ages emanate 
from this one source, and must be alike tried by the 
test of reason. 

There can be no Miracle. 

As law rules supreme in the spiritual as well as 
physical realm, there can be no miracle nor super- 
natural event. (198.) 

Brotherhood and Divinity of Man. 

Spirit is the reality, and individualized spirit the 
highest type, of creation. In this sense, mankind 
become brethren, commencing and continuing their 
progress on the same plane of development. In this 
sense all men are divine, and are endowed with 
infinite capabilities. 



General Statement of Principles. 1 7 

Incentives of Spiritualism. 

Spiritualism encourages the loftiest spiritual aspi- 
rations, energizes the soul by presenting only exalted 
motives, prompts to highest endeavors, and incul- 
cates noble self-reliance. It frees man from the 
bondage of authority of book and creed. Its only 
authority is truth ; its interpreter, reason. (324.) 

Its Object. 

It seeks for a whole and complete cultivation of 
man, — physically, morally, and intellectually. (324.) 

Influence of the Departed. 

As the departed take deep interest in the affairs 
of earth, they mingle in all the reforms of the day. 
The temperance movement, women's rights, the 
high duties and responsibilities of parentage, aboli- 
tion of all slavery, the thorough education of all, the 
establishment of universal peace, the promulgation 
of correct religious views in contradiction to prevail- 
ing errors, and all movements for the elevation and 
improvement of mankind, claim their attention, (ii.) 

It can have no Creed. 

Every individual must be a law unto himself, and 
draft his own creed, but not seek to force such on 
others. 

Organization. 

If Spiritualists organize, it is because organization 
is the best method to reach desirable results, and 



2 



I 



1 8 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

the means by which each receives the combined 
strength of all. 

Such organization must be based on absolute per- 
sonal freedom, and unquestioned right to individual 
opinion and action, so far as the rights of others 
remain inviolate. There must be agreement to 
differ. 



I. 



INTRODUCTION. 

The Reformation was the proclamation of salvation by grace, once preached 
by Paul and his companions. — D'Aubigne. 

Reform is evolved by the progressive growth of the human intellect. 



H 



OW often do we hear it said, in derision, this 
or that man is a theorist, a visionary, an ideal- 
ist, and has no practical powers ! Is this prevalent 
impression, that the ideal is valueless, correct ? Is 
the world of the senses the only world ? and are the 
men of the yardstick and scale the only valuable 
portion of mankind ? 

If we look deeper into this question, we shall find 
that the ideal world is the real, of which the vaunted 
real world is but the shadow. 

What are these realities ? They are incarnations 
of ideas. Look at the ponderous engine! Its bones 
are wrought of iron ; its sinews are of steel ; its vital 
energy is fire. How perfectly it performs its work ! 
How wonderfully its parts are adjusted to each 
other ! It is the very embodiment of the real and 
the practical. Yet what would it be without the 
thought that gave it birth ? A mass of inert metal 
slumbering in the earth. Ideas have found express- 
ion in the length of that piston, in the form of those 



20 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

valves, in the polish of that cylinder, in the conden- 
sation of that steam, in the draft of that fire ; and, 
from those ideas, the engine has been actualized. 
Whether it be placed in the hull of a ship to propel 
it against adverse waves and winds, or mounted on 
wheels to drag freighted cars with the speed of the 
wind, it once formed a part of the mind of its archi- 
tect. 

Before the iron of which it is formed is mined, 
the machine exists in the mental world. The in- 
ventor plans and projects ; and when he enters the 
shop, and by his hands builds after these plans, 
he but clothes, with iron and steel and brass, his 
ideal. 

What this machine does*results from the amount 
of mind he imparts to it. So far as it represents his 
idea, it is perfect ; and, so far as it does not, it is 
imperfect. The idea is its soul, which we discern 
when we examine its motions, clearly visible through 
the garb of metal. The boiler is tested at forty 
pounds' pressure. We see the index move at forty- 
two ; and the steam escapes to restore the necessary 
equilibrium. The inert metal has life, it is intel- 
ligent, it relieves itself when endangered. Mind 
has fashioned it : it retains the skill of the molding 
hand. 

The picture exists in the mind of the painter 
before he places it on canvas, and often with a force 
and beauty, an exquisiteness of outline, a brilliancy 
of coloring, which shames his every attempt at 
reproduction. The statue exists in the mind of the 



Introduction. 2 1 

sculptor before it is chiseled in marble ; and how 
often does he revile the unyielding stone ! 

This is all plain enough ; but, in the higher walks 
of morality, what there ? Vastly more. Not to the 
actualizing man belongs the honor of the grand 
achievements of history. It is to the idealists, the 
fanatics, we owe everything. 

The spread of Islamism was the actualization of 
an idea. Mohammed, in his tent in the desert, with 
only his wife, surrounded by the awful and terrible 
sublimities of nature, felt the promptings of a spirit- 
ual presence, and that " there is but one God.- " all 
the idol worship of his people was vain, all their 
mythology childish. " There is but one God." He, 
the first to receive the sublime knowledge of the 
grand unity of all things, — he was the " prophet of 
God." Chadisjah, his beloved wife, said, in the 
simple, trustful, all-receiving faith of a wife, " I 
believe ; ' and, thus strengthened, he went forth. 

What was there, against the bigotry, intolerance, 
superstition, and ignorance of those who surrounded 
this plain, simple man, that bore him up, and in the 
end subjugated all adverse elements ? It was an 
Idea. " There is 07te God, and Mohammed is his 
prophet? That is a plain thought ; but, to that peo- 
ple and time, it was a clean Damascus blade. It 
destroyed the old ; and, like a whirlwind gathering 
force, it spread from people to people, and still rolls 
onward along the African continent, displacing the 
tenets of all other sects, not excepting those of 
Christianity. Beginning with the humble man in 



22 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

his tent in the desert, it is now received by 300,000,- 
000 souls, or more than one-fourth of the human 
family. 

The ideas of universal brotherhood floating in 
the atmosphere of the world gather around a child 
born to a poor carpenter in Nazareth, and so desti- 
tute they cradle him in a manger. When the child 
matures, he becomes possessed with the idea of 
brotherly love. He scorns the inequality, injustice, 
and shams of the world. He believes in the univer- 
sal applicability of love, and that it is better to 
suffer wrong than to do wrong ; to do as we would 
be done by. 

We may ask, Is there power in these ? Yes : 
there is power enough to overturn a world, and res- 
urrect a new and glorious race of angelic beings. 
Those ideas have worked through eighteen centu- 
ries, and are still at work with stronger force than 
ever. 

There is this singular peculiarity about the men 
who first receive^ ideas, — they cannot keep them. 
When the rising sun gilded the face of the Egyp- 
tian Memnon, he answered the light with songs ; so, 
when the sun of truth gilds our mental horizon, we 
cry out at the beautiful vision. No sooner does the 
man perceive that he has a new idea, than he 
becomes impressed that he has a mission. It is not 
egotism ; it is not a desire for notoriety. The same 
power which gives him the idea fills him with an irre- 
sistible impulse to reveal it. He cannot conceal it : 
he rushes forth to light the lamp of his neighbors. 



Introduction. 23 

He cannot be diverted. Wealth, ease, comfort, home, 
wife, children, friends, the gentle amenities of life, 
may plead ; and poverty, disgrace, ruin, and mar- 
tyrdom with rod, fire, and dungeon, may menace, 
— he rushes on to promulgate the new. He has 
gained an insight into the everlasting, the inscru- 
table ; and his lips glow with the words with which 
he sets it forth. He controlled by the soft pleas- 
ures of this life ? They are ephemeral. He prose- 
lyted ? Never. In him, an idea, for the first time 
since creation, has found a tongue of flame. It is no 
fault of his that he becomes fanatical, and overesti- 
mates the importance of his treasure. The world 
gains by the equilibrium resulting from a thousand 
such. Stand aloof, men of the world, who cannot 
understand anything unless it is set down in dollars 
and cents, quarts and bushels. Stand aside ! you 
are the freight, the dead freight, which such fanatics 
are to carry through ; and the only possible use you 
serve is a retarding influence, which, out of kind- 
ness, we call conservative, by which you keep them 
I in sight. 

Spiritualism, in its rapid growth, illustrates the 
power of an idea. That idea is the grandest as well 
as dearest possible to conceive. Immortality of our 
being, and of our ties and bonds of affection and 
intelligence. 

It comes to prove this, and does so through the 
sweet voices of the loved departed. The idea of 
" one God" is cold and far off compared with this. 
Immortality demonstrated is above all else what we 



24 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

most desire. The voice of prayer has daily and 
hourly pleaded for this great revelation, now freely 
shed like the light of the morning sun. The world 
has been slowly preparing for its advent. Ideas do 
not burst suddenly on the minds of men, like flash- 
ing meteors, but rather like the slowly breaking 
twilight of the perfect day. Their dawn is deter- 
mined by the advance of culture. 

There is growth in the human race, from infancy 
to manhood. When civilization flourished on the 
fertile banks of the Nile, and the Hebrew warrior 
tended his flocks on Assyrian plains, it was in its 
infancy. Its birth is shrouded by impenetrable 
mists of mythology ; and its early history is the 
record of its childish prattle, a description of its 
toys and cobble-houses. The actions of the great- 
est, most learned, and accomplished of the Egyp- 
tians possess a marked puerility, such as is expected 
of children. The early nations represent the child- 
hood of the race, — - rude, fearful, revengeful, super- 
stitious/believers in devils, hobgoblins, and afraid of 
the dark. 

The present is the age of dawning manhood. 
The baby-clothes (creeds, superstitions, traditions) 
are fast being laid away in the world's lumber-room, 
with all the useless utensils former generations con- 
sidered necessary for the government of the people. 
The rack, the gibbet, the gallows, the guillotine, 
horrid engines of torture, once thought requisite to 
maintain government, are cast off with the igno- 
rance which prompted their use. 



Introduction. 25 

s/The world to-day has outgrown its yesterday 
thoughts ; and to-morrow will outgrow the best per- 
formances of to-day. Each year adds growth to the 
moral and intellectual world, as the circling sun adds 
a new layer to the tree. Each year's growth encir- 
cles all others ; or, in other words, the ideas of the 
race are higher, its attainments more noble, and it 
basks in a brighter light. Each year adds to the 
moral and intellectual temperature of mind ; makes 
it glow with superior truth and wisdom. This 
growth, slow, but visible, is a progress as uncontrol- 
lable as the movement of the heavenly bodies around 
their central suns. 

Grown to manhood, the infant garments cannot 
be strained on ; and, were it possible to force them 
on, they would cramp the free movement of his 
body, bind his limbs in stiff contortions, and destroy 
freedom and manliness. Creeds, dogmas, beliefs, 
are such garments to the spirit. When the expand- 
ing mind is forced to take up its abode in the habil- 
iments of the past, its best motives are crushed ; its 
feelings are stifled ; its holiest emanations dried up ; 
and it becomes as barren as the desert-sands of 
Sahara, as cold and frigid as the icebergs around 
the frozen poles. 

Everything moves toward a crisis, attains its 
maximum, and then declines, performing a per- 
petual oscillation. The planet departs from its 
orbit ; the world varies in its motions : but a devi- 
ation in one extreme is counterbalanced by a de- 
viation in the other ; and, through a perpetual 




26 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

oscillation, the world moves in a given orbit around 
the sun. 

So with the inhabitants of the world, — like a ship 
crossing the ocean, driven hither and thither by 
storm and current in many a devious wandering, 
but, as a whole, making a straight course to the 
destined port. 

Underneath the superficial dross is an omnipotent 
principle which none can resist nor gainsay. By 
the force of this principle, the race moves faster or 
slower in proportion to the number at the oars, and 
the vigor of their exertions. 

Great men, leaders of the race, are thrown up 
from the waves of the intellectual sea, and mounted 
on the highest billow's crest, not so much by their 
own exertions as by the irresistible undulations of 
that sea. It is not difficult for them to lead, but 
the easiest thing in the world. They lead because 
they cannot help it. Some enter one sphere of 
action, doing good ; some, another. All are for their 
place and season. 

Sensual and crude as the doctrines of Mohammed 
are, the beliefs before him were more sensual and 
depraved. He had a far more ignorant and animal 
race to reform than had Christ ; and hence it was 
impossible for him to institute the transcendental 
doctrines of the Nazarene. Had Mohammed ap- 
peared in Jerusalem, he could have worked no re- 
form. Had Christ appeared in Mecca, his sublime 
visions of universal love and wisdom would have 
been lost; for the sensual Arabians could not ap- 



Introduction. 27 

preciate such transcendental ideas. They would far 
exceed the perfection with which he invests his 
God. But Christ in his place, and Mohammed in 
his, were where they should be to do the most good. 

Reformers may introduce and sustain a few fun- 
damental truths ; but the great mass of their teach- 
ings must necessarily be erroneous. None are born 
so far in advance as to see the absolute right. 
Their words, in consequence, are comparative. As 
the ages pass, the ideas of yesterday become obso- 
lete, giving place to the new of to-day, which are 
destined to become old to-morrow. 

There are a few principles which are established 
here for time and eternity ; but the mass of knowl- 
edge styled truth is only true for its time, and liable 
at any moment to be outgrown. There is a class 
which desires to make this imperfect truth eternal 
truth, by preventing mankind from outgrowing it. 
These are the conservatives, — poor men who have 
turned their eyes backward, looking the wrong way. 
Against these, reformation must wage open war. 

While the reformer would have mankind throw 
off the garments of boyhood, — cast aside the top, 
the doll, and toy, which pacified its babyhood, and 
occupy its mind with manly things, — the conserva- 
tive would compel it to wear its infant dress, cling- 
ing for safety to its leading-strings, and delight it- 
self with gewgaws and tinsel. Even its new clothes 
must be cut after the old infantile pattern. But, 
despite the stoutness of the seams, human minds 
will grow. They cannot arrest ^-^ their own 



28 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

growth, though they strive ever so hard to starve 
themselves into mental dwarfs. Reform takes even 
these ; and, though they may not remain afar in the 
rear, they are moved along. 

We said there were levelers and builders, and that 
both were useful. The radical utters his thoughts 
in so rabid a form ; is so cutting, harsh, and vindic- 
tive ; and comes down on his hearers with such 
crushing force, — they become angry, and will not 
hear him. He misses the mark ; for men, when 
excited by anger, lose reason, and refuse persuasion. 
They cannot be driven into a new belief, but a well- 
known call they will follow anywhere. 

The builder comes along, and finds a state of con- 
fusion left by the leveler. He sets himself at work 
to heal the laceration, applying balm and healing 
ointment. His words are so sweet, that, although 
new, they are palatable ; and men incline to accept 
them. He comes not with the grim battle-ax and 
brand, rushing to the fray with clang of arms ; but 
gently, as a south wind reviving the drooping flower, 
he stoops over fainting humanity, and speaks cheer- 
ingly of a better life and more exalted aims. My 
heart is with such. The temple's spire of their con- 
struction glitters in the sunlight of peace and love. 

Great changes can be wrought in peace, or by 
concentrating giant forces, in confusion, convulsion, 
and ruin. Niagara's stream, in its never-ceasing 
flow, little by little, undermines and wears the rock 
away ; but should we concentrate the work of ages 
in a single^flEbrt, and compel the waters to plow out 



In troduction. 2 9 

that channel at once, the mighty rush would sweep 
clear the country from Erie's tide to the Atlantic 
main. So, if we would destroy long-standing insti- 
tutions, however erroneous, we must proceed by 
degrees, else disorder and the horrors of anarchy 
result. 

We do not dishonor the institutions of the past, 
but profoundly respect them for the good they have 
accomplished. They have been the instruments 
through which mind has attained its present perfec- 
tion ; the steps by which it arose ; and now are the 
landmarks set up along the shores of the wild sea 
of life, marking the deeds of its various ages. But 
they are not for the present : they cramp its vital 
energies, and restrain the best emotions of the soul. 

We lament the error, sin, and depravity, which 
exist, and justly too ; but we forget that there is a 
cause, and that cause — ignorance. Alas for human 
ignorance ! It has immolated its myriad victims ; 
and still its all-devouring jaws are stretched wide 
with insatiable rapacity. It is the prolific cause of 
all crime, all degradation, all misery. It is an ac- 
cepted truth, that, if man perfectly obeyed every law 
of his moral, intellectual, and physical nature, he 
would be perfectly happy, perfectly free from all 
pain, unnatural desires, and sufferings. He obeys 
not, because he is ignorant. Give him knowledge 
upon these great subjects ; and he would do better 
in proportion to the light he receives. Pour a flood 
of wisdom into the world, so much that every by- 
lane and every alley shall be filled, and evil will 






30 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

expire. Error, sin, and evil, are the results of sub- 
jecting ourselves to other laws than those of our 
normal being. If we sufficiently understood these 
laws, we should never suffer from them. 

The child, before it learns the nature of physical 
matter, is delighted with the brilliant flame, reaches 
forth its tender hand to grasp the glittering object, 
and is burnt. 

Henceforth it understands the relations of heat to 
its physical frame, ■ — that it causes intense pain, — 
and avoids it, however much it glitters. Man, taken 
collectively, has been a child. When first an inhab- 
itant of the globe, a rude savage, totally unacquainted 
with the material universe, and its controlling laws, 
he was surrounded by darkness, and was compelled 
to walk empirically. Like the child, attracted by 
brilliant objects, he strove to obtain, perhaps finding 
them useful in supplying his wants, perhaps causing 
him intense suffering. In either case, he discovered 
their nature, and the relations they sustained to him. 
By degrees, the light dawned. Fact after fact was 
learned, law after law deduced, until he knew the 
general bearing he sustained to the microcosm of 
which he is a part. 

Still the unknown far exceeds the known, and 
the anxious student of nature, who has surpassed all 
his contemporaries, looks off on the limitless sea of 
knowledge which stretches beyond the shores of his 
present acquirements, and, in an agony of aspiration 
after the unknown truths of the mystic beyond, is 
abashed at his own insignificance ; that he is a trav- 



Introduction. 3 1 

eler on the shores of the intellectual sea, and has 
tasted but a few drops of its waters. Newton gives 
voice to his feelings, exclaiming, " I am but a boy 
gathering a few pebbles on the ocean's strand." 

Being thus ignorant of the laws which govern the 
external and internal universes, we must expect 
transgressions, and their accompanying punish- 
ments in the form of misery and suffering. As 
soon as man learns the higher principles of right 
and wrong, so soon will suffering cease. This must 
be learned empirically, as he learned the properties 
of fire, air, and water. In these experiments, he will 
often make missteps, and suffer many a fall. Some 
there are, who, guided by superior intuition, safely 
steer their barks among shoals and rocks, where 
others, less gifted, would certainly perish. Such 
are born reformers, — men who see far down the 
vista of a thousand ages, and chart the unknown 
seas for the direction of future generations. These 
are the true reformers, which the world finds or 
evolves at long intervals, to clear away the accumu- 
lations of rubbish, and build new systems for expand- 
ing thought. Theirs it is to walk far ahead of their 
times, and mark the way by the recognition of before 
unknown laws, throwing a strong, clear light over 
the darkness. 

It matters little whether born on a throne or in a 
manger : when they arise in their manhood, all con- 
ventionalisms crumble away, and king and peasant 
stand in the same light. When sublime intuitions 
fill their overflowing souls, and they reveal man's 



32 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

relations to the universe and to his fellow-man, all 
distinctions vanish in the rapturous gush of elo- 
quence, as the frost-work of night vanishes in the 
rays of the rising sun. Confucius was nobly born ; 
Zoroaster stated his ideas from a throne ; Moham- 
med was a noble : their converts count by the hun- 
dred million. Some eighteen centuries ago, a poor 
carpenters son, of so low origin he was cradled in a 
manger, arose, and with a breath overturned all the 
cherished idols of his time, and founded a transcen- 
dental system of purity, which is the ideal, even now, 
of the civilized world. 

So it is written in all history. The origin of the 
man is of small account : the truths he utters avail 
everything. Say you there is no need of new 
truths ; that, the older the world grows, the worse it 
becomes ? You contradict history, the all-answering 
experience of the past. You repeat a myth, first 
dreamed by the poets, and since set up as a revela- 
tion. The golden age is the goal towards which we 
are going, not the one we left. It is in the future, 
not in the past, which only reveals fitful gleams 
through the thick night of its darkness. There is 
the turmoil and conflict of animal passions, with 
here and there a noble man, a great thought, a glo- 
rious deed. Such are the redeemers of history. All 
have perished in oblivion. The great conquerors, 
who, with their murderous hordes, rushed across the 
world, scattering the affrighted nations, have scarce 
a place left to write their names. A few years, or 
centuries, — all the same in time, — have obliterated 



Introduction. 33 

their ravages, as they do the path of the avalanche. 
The disturbances they caused were no more than 
ripples on the surface, soon subsiding in the smooth 
outline of history. Great crimes, as well as great 
benevolence, are all lost in the sea of life. They 
are all forgotten. They are but the accidental rip- 
ples beneath which the vast, interminable sea ebbs 
and flows, controlled by undeviating laws. 

Oblivion, which devours the dross of the world, 
leaves only the great and shining truths. A truth 
once revealed is never forgotten. All that mankind 
has conquered from nature remains conquered for- 
ever. No inquisition can suppress it ; no irruption 
of savage hordes blot it out. 

Creeds, dogmas, superstitions, shall pass away, — 
all the paraphernalia by which mock legislators seek 
to force men to be moral ; governments shall fade ; 
and the ephemeral world grow old, and perish : but 
the least thought of truth lives forever ! It is en- 
dowed with productive power ; and, as each age 
claims it, it gives birth to truths for that age, 
and thus grows continually, extending its influence 
broader and broader ; and mankind, in remote gen- 
erations, drinks at its fountain of clear waters, pro- 
nouncing the name of its author, calling him -blessed. 

There is need of untiring action. Each reform 
presupposes and calls for a greater. The desires 
of humanity are not left long unanswered before 
fresh thoughts are ushered into the world, at whose 
breath old institutions crumble away, and new start 
up as by the touch of the magician's wand. 
3 



34 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

Is not reform needed ? Shall we be content ? 
There is no content. As long as a slave sends up 
a petition to sympathizing Heaven ; as long as the 
chains of despotism canker the limbs of the down- 
trodden masses ; as long as ignorance and attendant 
crimes encompass us, — so long will the world, lost 
in darkness, cry loudly, wildly, from its bed of tor- 
ture, " Light ! more light ! " 

Tell us not of the past. I respect it for its truths ; 
but the world's genii have elevated us far, far above 
the bravest thoughts of our forefathers. We have 
actualized their wildest idealities. Our own ideal is 
for the future. Men, one and all, feel, deeply feel, 
that great wrongs are to be righted, great errors to 
be overcome, and anxiously wait the blast the trump 
of their leader shall send down the gale. They 
expect a higher, purer morality. They feel that the 
age of thought is in store for the future, dimly seen 
through the long vista of events by the Hebrew 
seers and prophets of past ages, shadowed forth in 
the constitution of mind, — an age of thought whose 
brilliant morning lights up the mental world by its 
rapid coming. 

The age of thought is full of promise. Ignorance 
shall vanish, and, with it, its viper-brood, — crime, 
error, evil, misery, and suffering. A thousand or a 
million years may intervene; but, surely as mind 
progresses, the future shall yield this fruit, and the 
whole earth shall partake of it in harmony. 



II. 



EVIDENCES OF SPIRITUALISM I A DISCUSSION OF THE 
VARIOUS THEORIES ADVANCED FOR ITS EXPOSI- 
TION. 

We ask no one to come to the investigation of Spiritualism biased in its 
favor. We only ask that there be no prejudice against it, and vision 
directed through a perfectly clear glass. 

How vast is the power of spirits ! An ocean of invisible intelligences sur- 
round us everywhere. If you look for them, you cannot see them. If 
you listen, you cannot hear them. Identified with the substance of all 
things, they cannot be separated from it. They cause men to sanctify 
and purify their hearts. . . . They are everywhere ; above us, on the 
right, and on the left. Their coming cannot be calculated. How impor- 
tant we do not neglect them ! — Confucius, B.C. 551. 

i. If a Man die, shall he live again? 

N" O question can be asked so full of import, or 
appealing with greater force to the human 
consciousness. On its affirmation depend our hopes 
and aspirations : its negation converts creation into 
a sham, into which man seems thrust for no purpose 
but to have the brief hour of his existence, fraught 
with pain and disappointment, blotted out in eternal 
night. 

2. Atheism 

Is a mental state into which some of the most 
profound thinkers fall The student of nature can-* 



36 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

not avoid, if he logically follows the views science 
at present entertains, arriving at its goal. This 
tendency has been long foreseen by the theological 
world, which, in various ways, has sought to arrest 
its progress. The shafts hurled by dogmatic be- 
lievers have always rebounded against themselves. 
Nothing is gained by denial. It is the responsi- 
bility of every new truth to vindicate itself: it must 
not only produce positive evidence in its favor, but 
reveal the errors in the theories it would supplant. 
Cicero gave more attention to the arguments brought 
against him than those he could urge in his favor. 
To show the old false is essential to establish the 
new. 

3. Immortality and Science. 

Science is an interpreter of the senses. The phe- 
nomena attending the death of man and of animals 
are apparently the same. The processes of decay 
destroy their bodies, resolving them into identical 
elements. In vain is appeal made to the senses for 
knowledge of existence beyond the grave. Their 
voice is, " Dust to dust ; ' a resurrection of new or- 
ganic life out of the dead atoms. Man's physical 
body is composed of perishable compounds, and, of 
necessity, must perish. Dissolution is the terrible, 
but unavoidable, end of living beings. Composed as 
they are of elements antagonistic, gross, and conflict- 
ing, the embryonic, called life, cannot be preserved. 
A living being represents a balance of the forces of 
decay and renovation. In the maturing organism, 



Evidences of Spiritualism. 37 

the latter predominate ; in age, the former rule with 
constantly increasing power until they gain the vic- 
tory in d^ath. Such is the history of all organic 
forms. Out of the imperfect material afforded by 
the physical world, immortal beings cannot be pro- 
duced. 

4. Conditions of Immortality. 

An immortal being presupposes the perfect har- 
mony of its constituent elements. The forces of 
decay and renovation must not only balance, they 
must so remain forever. Immortality is this har- 
mony eternally preserved ; and, if attainable with 
physical elements, an immortal lion or panther, oak 
or pine, would be as possible as an immortal man. 

5. Impossible with Physical Elements. 

But such conditions cannot obtain. Organic forms 
live for an hour, and perish. They revolve in desig- 
nated orbits, fulfill appointed missions, and pass 
back to elementary atoms. The grass and herbs 
of the fields, the trees of centuries , growth, the deer 
browsing the branches, the lion devouring the deer, 
all the multitudinous forms of animated nature, with 
man boasting of his superiority, grow old, and die. 
Identically do they all decay. Their dissolving ele- 
ments are absorbed by the earth, drunk by the rains, 
wafted away by the winds. All are resolved, and 
mingle. The farthest oasis in the desert is refreshed 
by the gifts brought by the winds and rain : the 



38 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

palm is taller, the grass greener. Life rejoices in 
the harvest of the old. So is it always : life preys 
on death ; and, in a perpetual cycle of change from 
death to life, the world is filled with beings, and a 
fleeting happiness secured to each. 

6. Does the Mind perish ? 

Man's aspirations — are they also to perish ? Phys- 
ically, man is an animal; mentally, "Ah! what?' 3 
asks the skeptic. " What is memory but an inter- 
preted succession of what before were automatic 
actions ? And reason, godlike reason, which places 
an impassable abyss between man and animals, — 
what is it but comparison of perceptions ? What is 
mind, as a whole, but the result of certain chemical 
changes in the grate, or electricity of changes in the 
battery ? Does not the brain secrete thought as the 
liver secretes bile ? " * These questions are very well, 
but they yield no explanation of spiritual ideas : they 
only give new names to well-known facts. 

Man has the wants of the animal ; but, after these 
are supplied, he feels the breath of new and vastly 
higher aspirations. Indefinable, awful, inexpressible 
desires and longings seize him. He feels that he is 
akin to that which is supreme. He thinks blindly 
that this afflatus is the breath of Deity, and shadow- 
ing forth his ideal. He describes it as God, endowed 
with all the attributes he admires, — justice, love, 
wisdom, all infinite in quantity and degree. What 
is this shadow, which the mortal, man the animal, 

* Carl Vogt. 



Evidences of Spiritualism. 39 

calls God, and worships with such devotion ? Start- 
ling is the revelation. It is man's own immortal 
essence. As in a mirror, he sees his own divine 
qualities reflected back from the domain of nature. 
It is not true, as has been said, that men assimilate 
to their gods : on the contrary, their gods are con- 
crete representatives of themselves. 

How do these ideas of immortality arise, if not 
true ? Nature, interpreted by the senses, demon- 
strates mortality. How, then, did man learn this 
wonderful truth ? Savage man, standing by his 
dying brother, who presented the same appearance 
as the deer pierced by his arrow, said, " The deer is 
dead, but my brother still lives," and solved the 
problem. Did he learn this by dreams ? He 
dreamed of meeting his departed friends, just as 
we now dream, and supposed they still existed. 
But he dreamed of seeing animals also ; and why 
did he not bestow immortality on them ? 

7. If Man is not Immortal, how can he un- 
derstand Immortality ? 

You might as well talk mathematics as immor- 
tality to an ox, so far as his understanding is con- 
cerned. Why ? Because he has not the elements 
of either in his organization. The ox never counts 
the blades of grass, nor estimates their form or size. 
Only so far as they appease his hunger, can he appre- 
ciate their qualities. He has no comprehension of 
anything beyond the gratification of his appetite. 



4-0 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

In man, these relations are suggested because he 
has the mental qualities which represent the laws 
of mathematics. 

So, if man were mortal, vain would it be to talk to 
him of immortality ; for, not having the capabilities, 
he could not understand that existence. As well a 
finite being comprehend an infinite, as a mortal 
immortality. That man aspires for immortal life is 
presumptive evidence that he has the possibilities 
of that life. 

8. Opposition of Science and Spiritualism. 

The facts of science are opposed to Spiritualism : 
at least, such is their interpretation, as given by 
scientific men, who ignore the facts of Spiritualism 
as miraculous, and do not even recognize their 
existence. But spiritual phenomena are as positive, 
and amenable to law, as physical, and quite as far 
removed from the supernatural. They cannot be 
explained by orthodox science. Scientists have, 
without exception, signally failed ; and the magni- 
tude of their failure has been in direct proportion to 
their greatness. They start wrong, with the suppo- 
sition that everything claiming to be spiritual must 
be miraculous ; and, the further they go, the more 
erroneous they become. 

9. This Conflict is not Necessary. 

Science has become exclusively external. One 
does not penetrate beneath the outer garb of ap- 



Evidences of Spirifoialism. 41 

pearances : the other seeks the vital soul of things, 
and works outward. Physical science has not the 
whole, complete truth. Spiritualism supplies the 
deficiency. It adds new elements to every fact, and 
modifies the conclusions drawn therefrom. Shall its 
facts be accepted ? 

10. Are they Legerdemain ? 

When an investigator enters a circle, and wit- 
nesses manifestations, the first explanation which 
suggests itself is that they are produced by legerde- 
main. The precautions of honest skepticism against 
fraud are not detrimental nor offensive ; and every 
precaution should be taken to render the facts trust- 
worthy. A manifestation which admits of doubt is 
valueless, although it may be genuine. Experiments 
should always be instituted in such a manner as to 
avoid all possibility of e*rror. Spiritualists usually 
are more severe in their tests than skeptics ; and it 
is improbable that they are self-deceived. Mediums 
rely on their own communications, and hence are 
not only deceivers, but deceived. But are they -self- 
deceived ? They rely on a power which influences 
them to write, speak, and act in a manner foreign to 
themselves. What is that power that enlightens, 
purifies, and refines those subjected to its influence ? 

11. Impossibility of moving Matter. 

It is impossible for a human being to move physi- 
cal matter without contact ; and the moving of pon- 



42 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

derable substances, without such contact of the 
medium, settles the question of self-deception and 
collusion. A rap, or the playing of a musical instru- 
ment at a distance from the medium, is conclusive 
on this point. The movement of a table, while the 
hands of the circle rest on its surface, of itself is not 
satisfactory ; but it becomes so by the intelligence 
of its answers. If it answers in such a manner as 
to identify the controlling force with the departed 
whom it purports to be, imparting facts unknown to 
the medium or circle, the cause, whatever it may be, 
is removed outside of the circle. 

The facts which prove that matter has been 
moved without contact, musical instruments been 
played, and intelligence manifested superior to the 
medium, are so common for the present we take 
them for granted. Volumes might readily be filled 
with them ; but skepticism, to be thoroughly con- 
vinced, *must witness for itself, as belief cannot grow 
out of the statement of what others have seen. 

12. Are the Senses Reliable? 

If the medium does not deceive, perhaps the circle 
are self-deceived : perhaps their senses are unreli- 
able. Nowhere else are they so deceptive as in the 
border-land lying between the known physical realm, 
and what has been called the supernatural. It has 
become fashionable to ridicule everything of a spirit- 
ual character as miraculous, and hence unworthy of 
credence. Because the senses are sometimes de- 



Evidences of Spiritualism. 43 

ceived, their evidence is entirely discarded unless 
susceptible of proof. This is by no means justifi- 
able. All knowledge is referable to them ; and we, 
in the end, are compelled to accept their testimony. 

They often become deranged. The ear hears, the 
eye sees, when there is nothing external to produce 
sight or sound, the cause residing in organic changes 
in the nerves or brain. The deaf hear roaring or 
whistling sounds, as of the wind, or falling water, or 
rush of steam ; the abnormal action of the auditory 
nerves simulating the effects of sounds naturally 
produced. This does not prove that there is no 
reliability in hearing. Two deaf persons listening 
for the same sound would not receive it alike. 
Hissing to one would be roaring to the other, prov- 
ing that neither heard an external sound. The 
normal ear would hear no sound, and its evidence 
would be receivable. The records of insanity fur- 
nish innumerable instances of the deception of the 
senses, which have been employed to account for 
spiritual phenomena. If the senses are not to be 
trusted, if the normal cannot be distinguished from 
the abnormal, it should be known, and distrust 
awakened. 

The savants, who annually publish "expositions' 
of Spiritualism, talk as if the world was a world of 
hallucinations, — an unreliable, phantom existence. 
It is true all are liable to hallucinations ; and such 
liability does not necessarily indicate insanity. Dis- 
ease often produces hallucinations ; as in delirium 
tremens, fevers, and fasting. 



44 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

Among the sane, sight, and, among the insane, 
hearing, are oftenest imposed upon. Brierre states, 
that, out of sixty-two patients in his asylum, thirty- 
eight had hallucinations : of sixty-six cases admitted 
into the Bicetre, thirty-five had hallucinations. The 
fiends and reptiles of delirium tremens are repro- 
duced in the maniac who fancies himself pursued, or 
wild beasts ready to devour him. 

" A patient in the York Dispensary used to com- 
plain bitterly of a voice repeating in his ear every- 
thing that he was reading ; and, on one occasion, he 
distinctly heard the same voice commanding him to 
throw himself into a pond in his garden. He obeyed 
the voice ; and when removed from the water, and 
asked why he had done so rash an act, he replied 
that he much regretted it, but added, * He told me 
that I must do it, and I could not help it/ " 

"The poet Cowper was distracted by hallucinations 
of the sense of hearing. ' The words/ says his biog- 
rapher, ' which occurred to him on waking, though 
but his own imaginations, were organically heard ; 
and Mr. Johnson, perceiving how fully he was im- 
pressed with their reality, ventured upon a question- 
able experiment. He introduced a tube into his 
chamber, near the bed's head, and employed one, 
with whose voice Cowper was not acquainted, to 
speak words of comfort through this contrivance. 
The reality of his impressions is shown by the 
remarkable fact that he did not discover the artifice. 
His attendant, one day, found him with a penknife 
sticking in his side, with which he had attempted 



Evidences of Spiritualism. 45 

suicide, believing he had been ordered to do so by a 
voice from heaven." 

Hallucinations of the sense of touch exist but 
rarely among the insane. Haslam records a case of 
a man who fancied himself pursued by a gang of 
villains, learned in the secrets of pneumatic chem- 
istry, who used their knowledge to inflict punish- 
ment on him. They would draw out the fibres of 
his tongue; stretch a veil over his brain, and thus 
intercept the communication between his mind and 
heart ; or, by means of magnetic fluids, almost 
squeeze him to death. 

Berbiquin believed that hobgoblins were con- 
stantly coming to and leaving his body, supporting 
themselves on him in order to fatigue him, and 
oblige him to sit down. These invisible enemies 
traveled over him day and night ; and their weight 
was sometimes such that he was afraid of being 
smothered. 

Hallucinations of smell are of rare occurrence, or 
are complicated with those of other senses. "Pa- 
tients do, however, complain of very bad odors, and, 
at other times, of very pleasant ones, when neither 
have any existence. We had a very good example 
of the former in an insane patient, who complained 
exceedingly of the injury done to her health by the 
sulphurous fumes with which some one, as she be- 
lieved, continually filled her room." 

The same author describes a lady with disordered 
mind, in whom " all the senses were abnormal. She 
heard a voice from her stomach continually torment- 



46 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

ing her, and directing her actions, and at length 
made her believe that she was possessed. She saw- 
fearfully distorted forms in her room, defiling before 
her. Her food tasted like vinegar, or other things 
which she detested. When walking, she felt drenched 
with ice-water ; and she was frequently annoyed with 
disagreeable odors. 

The author previously quoted thus presents a 
succinct view of this subject: "Hallucinations may 
be continuous, remittent, intermittent, or periodical. 
They may, although rarely, be at the will of the 
individual, so that he can recall them at pleasure. 
They may have one character to-day, and another to- 
morrow. In some cases, in which the sense of sight 
is hallucinated, closing the eyes will dispel the affec- 
tion. Sometimes the patient hears sounds through 
only one ear, or sees imaginary objects through one 
eye; the other eye or ear being unaffected. Again 
the number of voices will vary. In some instances, 
an animated dialogue is sustained with all the force 
of reality ; in others, two or more distinct voices are 
recognized by the patient ; and a linguist will occa- 
sionally hear voices in different languages." 

13. What is Hallucination? 

Hallucination is the perception of the sensible 
signs of an idea : " illusion is the false appreciation 
of real sensations." " Either may exist (the former 
rarely) in persons of sound mind : but, in that case, 
they are discredited in consequence of the exercise 



Evidences of Spiritualism. 47 

of reason and observation ; or, if credited, they do 
not influence the actions." 



14. Spiritual Phenomena Hallucinations. 

It is said that those who witness spirit-manifesta- 
tions are hallucinated, and the facts of Spiritualism 
are thus summarily classed with those of insanity. 

A proper understanding of both series of facts 
shows the puerility of this assertion. If a score of 
persons subject to illusions were in company, no two 
would be hallucinated alike. If one saw the table 
move, there would not be another to corroborate 
him. If two should see the table move, it would be 
presumptive that their sense of sight was normal ; 
and, if three, it would be positively certain. 

At circles, all the members see, feel, and hear 
alike. How, then, can it be called illusion or hallu- 
cination ? The facts presented show many points 
of resemblance to those of Spiritualism. How far 
departed minds may influence the insane is a ques- 
tion Spiritualism only can solve. The ancients 
believed insanity wholly caused by spiritual obses- 
sion, and they had a shadow of the truth. But any 
one experienced in spiritual manifestations can draw 
a sharp line between the narrow hallucinations of the 
insane, or illusions of the sane, and the ever-chang- 
ing, broad, and characteristic facts of Spiritualism. 

If it is considered probable that the members of 
a circle are hallucinated, that thousands should be 
so is not only improbable, but impossible. Wise 



48 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

and learned men have unqualifiedly endorsed its 
facts, and bravely announced their belief. It is not 
a single case of insanity, but of millions, all infatu- 
ated alike, if they are infatuated ; and, as the quoted 
facts show, rarely, if ever, are two individuals con- 
temporaneously alike, — the chances of their being 
so become infinitely improbable. 

A list of the names of those who have embraced 
Spiritualism would include the leading men of the 
nation, — statesmen who wield the most power, scien- 
tists, and almost all the advanced and radical think- 
ers. Dare any one brave the sneers of coming ages 
by declaring all these hallucinated ? If the senses 
are valueless in informing as to a table's moving, 
how can they be trusted as to its not moving? If 
twenty persons think they see it move when it is 
stationary, who is to judge whether it be stationary 
or not ? Then we float into a sea of unreality, and 
science itself has no basis. If the senses of sight, 
hearing, touch, are unreliable, presenting what is 
false, then there is no certainty anywhere. But this 
once favorite theory is thrown aside by more enlight- 
ened opponents, but is still urged by those who have 
not taken the trouble to acquaint themselves with 
the phenomena. 

15. Is it Evil Spirits, or the Devil? 

The opposers of Spiritualism have each a favorite 
theory, which they maintain with dogmatic compla- 
cency. There is a respectable party, who have at 



Evidences of Spiritualism. 49 

once fallen on a sure and perfect method, which 
quiets their nerves, and satisfactorily explains the 
whole subject. When Luther lit the fires of the 
Reformation, and Catholicism saw the fierce flames 
rise high, and lap its most cherished institutions, 
the priesthood mounted the summits of their grim 
towers, and shrieked, in one long, wild refrain, " The 
Devil ! the Devil ! " 

When England threw off the Catholic yoke, and 
became spiritually free, there came across the wide 
sea, and echoed along the shores of the channel, that 
awful, sullen, and portentous growl, " The Devil ! ' 

When a comet's glare flashed out on the evening 
sky, and shook out its fiery train, the Pope prayed 
to be saved from the arch-fiend, the Devil ! 

When a concussion, manifesting intelligence, is 
heard, and a table moved by invisible power ; when 
individuals fall into an unconscious state, and have 
the realities of the future life revealed to them, — 
the clergy mount their pulpits, and shriek, "The 
Devil ! ' Ah ! Satan, you are much abused. You 
are the scape-goat for all the folly and ignorance of 
the world. 

The party who receive this theory is large, and 
headed by strong leaders. Whether referred to the 
Devil or evil spirits, this important question arises : 
If evil spirits can communicate, why not the good ? 
Ah ! here is an unfortunate dilemma. Can a benev- 
olent God let loose on mankind an innumerable host 
of demons, and allow them to delude the children of 
men, and obstruct all avenues by which the good 
4 



50 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

and loving ones can hold the same intercourse ? 
Such a conclusion would be a profanation of Deity, 
contradictory to the Bible by which the theory is 
supported. Take the parable of Dives and Lazarus. 
Dives was an evil spirit ; but he could not return 
to earth, and hence requested Lazarus to bear a 
message to his brethren. The Bible thus proves 
that the good spirits, if they desire, can communi- 
cate ; but the bad cannot. 

" The tree is known by its fruit. The good tree 
cannot bring forth evil fruit, nor the evil tree good 
fruit." Spiritualism makes men better. It teaches 
a sublime code of morality. It destroys infidelity. 
It inculcates virtue, goodness, and purity. It holds 
out the greatest inducements for right doing. It 
destroys oppression. It gives assurance of an after- 
life, and the presence of loved ones gone before. It 
threatens a terrible retribution on those who do 
wrong. Can such sweet waters flow from a bitter 
fountain ? 

1 6. Is it Electricity? 

Static electricity, as generated by an electrical 
machine or other means, is always detected by elec- 
trometers. When of any degree of tension, it gives 
a spark ; but even when accumulated to the extent 
of human means, as in the Leyden battery, it does 
not move objects in the manner that tables are 
moved. It can only affect objects directly in its 
path, and that for an almost infinitely short space of 
time. Wheatstone calculated that it would past 



Evidences of Spiritualism. 5 1 

around the globe in the tenth of a second. How 
instantaneous must be its passage from one neigh- 
boring object to another ! In electricity generated 
by a machine or battery, perfect insulation is requi- 
site, as in telegraphic apparatus.* In a circle, as 
usually constituted, there is no insulation, no gener- 
ating battery, not a single condition necessary for 
the production of an electrical effect ; and the most 
delicate instrument science can devise for the detec- 
tion of that force gives not the least indication of 
its presence. Lightning might rend a table into 
splinters, if in its path ; but it could not rock it to 
and fro. The snapping sound of the electric spark 
is entirely different from the rappings. 

17. Is it Magnetism? 

Those who understand the laws of the magnet 
well know that a table, however violently it may 
move when subjected to magnetic tests, gives not 
the least indication of magnetic attraction. There 
are extremely few substances in nature capable of 

* The "wise men" who illustrate this theory by instancing 
the electrical eel as producing electrical shocks, and the cases 
where individuals have been in an electrified state, yielding 
sparks, forget to mention that the human organism has no 
special electrical apparatus, like the gymnotus ; and the elec- 
trified condition is rarely met with in circles or mediums. If 
the moving object is electrified, every floating shred of dust 
will indicate the fact ; and laying the hands of the medium or 
circle on a table, so far from "charging" it, would instantly 
discharge it, however strongly electrified. 






52 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

exhibiting this property. Iron is the principal one ; 
and it has been questioned whether the others do 
not derive the slight magnetism from a trace of iron 
they contain. Wood may be termed the antipode 
of iron, magnetically. An iron article moves no 
better than one of wood. The table, when moving, 
will not attract the smallest iron filing, any more 
than, electrically, it will attract a pith ball. It 
sounds exceedingly wise to refer a fact to electricity 
or magnetism, and has been quite the fashion. The 
human body cannot charge a table electrically or 
magnetically. It never exhibits the latter force. 
Both these hypotheses are untenable. The odic 
force is equally so. In none of Reichenbach's ex- 
periments, did he find odic force capable of moving 
a particle of matter. Acting on the nervous system, 
it attracted or repelled persons susceptible of its 
influence. It acts entirely and exclusively on living 
beings, and has not the least effect on inorganic 
bodies. This theory flourished for a time, made 
popular by its sounding name, and the ignorance of 
those who received as well as of those who taught 
it. Od force has no more intelligence than iron or 
lime or heat. How, then, account for intelligent 
communication ? Does it absorb them from the 
minds of the circle ? How account for its intelli- 
gence transcending the knowledge of the circle ? 

1 8. Mental Phenomena. 

So theorists attempt to account for the mental 
manifestations, as trance, writing, etc*, by mesmer- 



Evidences of Spiritualism. 53 

ism or psychology. Here, there is a show of ar- 
gument for impressibility, — allowing a spirit freed 
from the physical body to communicate is the same 
which allows a mesmerizer to impress his thoughts 
on the mesmerized subject. The spiritual and mes- 
meric are mixed, because they depend on the same 
laws and conditions. It is probable that much that 
is received as spiritual might be readily traced to 
special mesmeric causes. But mesmeric impressions 
do not go outside of the person or objects en rapport 
with the subject. They never reveal what is un- 
known to those in connection. Spiritual impressi- 
bility reaches outside of surroundings, and reveals 
the thoughts of the spirit who is en rapport. No 
one pretends psychology moves articles of furniture 
without physical contact. It can be employed only 
in the domain of mind, and fails even then of a com- 
plete explanation. 

How can the following fact be explained by any 
law of psychology ? I state it because of the au- 
thority, not because it is unique. It is related by 
Dr. Hare (" Spiritualism Scientifically Demonstrat- 
ed," p. 171). 

" I was sitting in my solitary, third-story room at 
Cape Island, invoking my sister, as usual, when, to 
my surprise, I saw ' Cadwallader ' spelled out on the 
desk. ' My old friend, Cadwallader ? ' said I. ' Yes/ 
A communication of much interest ensued ; but, 
before concluding, I requested him, as -a test, to 
give me the name of the person whom I met in an 
affair of honor, more than fifty years ago, when he 



54 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

was my second. The name was forthwith given, by 
pointing out on the desk the letters requisite to spell 
it. Now, as the spirit of General Cadwallader, dur- 
ing more than fifteen months that other friends had 
sought to communincate with me, had never made 
me a visit, why should his name have been spelled 
out when I had not the remotest idea of his coming, 
and was expecting another spirit, — the only one 
who had been with me at the cape ? Further, the 
breakfast-bell being rung, I said, ' Will you come 
again after breakfast ? ■ I understood him to con- 
sent to this invitation. Accordingly, when after- 
wards I reseated myself in statu quo, I looked for 
him ; but, lo ! i Martha/ my sisters name, was 
spelled out." 

19. Position of Scientists. 

Scientific men have generally been the most un- 
fair and prejudiced opposers. They are quick to 
say that they are the only class capable of investiga- 
tion. They scorn the idea that ordinary persons 
can make close observations. In every experiment, 
they know certain well-determined conditions must 
be fulfilled ; and nature, not themselves, determines 
these conditions. When these savants attempt to 
investigate, they invariably reverse this axiom ; and, 
if they are not allowed to enforce conditions, at 
once discard the whole. They are moral cowards, 
who, daring not to acknowledge the truth, avail 
themselves of this means to extricate themselves. 
Sir David Brewster, seeing a table rise into the air, 



Evidences of Spiritualism. 55 

said, " It seems to rise." He did not believe his 
eyes, or else did not say that he did. When Far- 
aday was told that his table-turning theory had 
failed, that tables actually rose into the air, he dared 
not go and see for himself, but expressed himself 
u heartily tired of the whole matter." To honestly 
investigate the phenomena is to become a believer. 
This is the invariable result. Those who oppose 
them are unexceptionably those who know nothing 
about them. 

It is the misfortune of theorizers that there are 
two classes of phenomena to account for,- — the phys- 
ical and the mental ; and a theory, however nicely ad- 
justed to one, is sure to be overthrown by the other. 
It has been a favorite hobby with many to say, with 
a wise accent, " It results from some unknown law 
of mind." If the mental phenomena were alone, this 
might satisfy superficiality ; but is not the rising of 
a table into the air a wonderful feat for an M unknown 
law of mind " ? So account for the physical phe- 
nomena, and there lies an immense field of mental 
manifestations wholly beyond explanation. 

Many of the theories advanced require a much 
greater stretch of credulity than the acceptance of 
the one of its spiritual source. 

20. The Intelligence manifested is Human 

Intelligence. 

It is conceded that the communicating power, 
whatever it be, manifests intelligence. It is of the 



56 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

same order as our own. It is human intelligence, 
partaking of all its qualities. 

21. it is not derived from the medium or 

• Circle. 

This intelligence is not derived from the circle or 
the medium. Volumes of facts might be introduced 
in proof of this point. It is not derived by absolute 
knowledge, nor clairvoyantly. 

This conclusion, sooner or later, must be reached. 
The bigoted churchmen, who attempt an explana- 
tion on any other ground, little understand the 
dangerous weapons they handle. Admit that these 
manifestations are explainable by " unknown laws of 
mind," by " odylic force," or electricity, will not the 
same explanation apply to the records of the Bible ? 
Christ becomes a poor deluded, biologized person ; 
the miracles, only feats of " odylic force." Let the 
doctors of divinity take this ground, and they pro- 
claim Christianity a despicable sham, and them- 
selves arrant deceivers. 

22. But one Recourse. 

There is but one recourse, — the acceptance of 
its spiritual origin ; and then Christianity becomes 
spiritualized, and the so-called supernatural in Hin- 
dostan, China, Persia, Europe, and America, at 
once becomes amenable to law, and order is dis- 
cernible amidst even the confusion of dogmatic 
beliefs. 



Evidences of Spiritualism. 57 

23. Identification of Spirits. 

The strongest arguments in favor of the spiritual 
origin of the manifestations are found in the physi- 
cal phenomena. The independent moving of inani- 
mate objects, sounds produced beyond the reach of 
the medium, are entirely outside of the laws of 
mentality. Let us suppose a concussion is pro- 
duced : how can it be identified ; how proved of 
spiritual origin ; how referred to a certain individ- 
ual ? If a friend was concealed in an adjacent room, 
and the only means of communication was by his 
rapping on the door, how would you proceed to 
identify him ? Would it not be by his correctly 
answering questions which none other could an- 
swer ? And, if he thus answered you, would you 
not consider his identification complete ? 

It is precisely in this manner that spirits commu- 
nicate by rappings, and in this manner can they be 
identified. When identified, the real cause of the 
manifestations is determined. 



III. 

EVIDENCES OF SPIRITUALISM. 

What was I before I was born ? What am I now ? What shall I be to- 
morrow ? — Gregory of Nazi an. 

The world will perish ; but the soul of man is immortal. — Gregory of 

Nyssa. 

/ It (Spiritualism) has more evidence for its wonders than any historic form 
of religion hitherto. It is thoroughly democratic, with no hierarchy; 
but inspiration is open to all. It is no fixed fact; has no puncttim 
stans; but is a punctwn fluens. It admits all the truths of religion and 
morality in all the world-sects. — Theodore Parker. 

24. Materialism. 

WE have learned to discard the supernatural 
and miraculous. Even the churches have 
become skeptical ; and their great leaders scoff at 
the spiritual. What Hume wrote in the last cen- 
tury, and which branded his name with infamy, has 
now become, in reality, a part of their belief. 

This skepticism and materialism is a natural re- 
action against the superstitions of the dark ages, 
as Spiritualism is a counteraction against its dark- 
ness. 

25. The Impossible. 

In producing proof in favor of spirit-communion, 
we are necessitated to use the evidence of others. 



Evidences of Spiritualism. 59 

Those who have never seen objects move say it is 
an impossibility. That is a word of ready use, but 
is an expression of conceit and ignorance. The wise 
will rather acknowledge that he knows too little to 
say anything is impossible. Of the laws which 
operate in the vast unknown, we know not ; and it 
is puerile to draw positive conclusions from the 
little that is known. Columbus and Harvey, Kepler, 
Galileo, and every one who has given expression to 
a new thought, has been met by the " impossible." 
After a time, their truths become possible enough ; 
and the present always smiles at the positive expres- 
sions of past ignorance. 

26. The Positive. 

There are few things which are positive. Mathe- 
matics is the only science which we can regard as 
fixed. A problem in geometry, as that the square 
formed on the hypothenuse of a right-angled trian- 
gle is equal to the sum of the squares formed on the 
other two sides, depending as it does on the unvary- 
ing relations of numbers, can never change, and is 
a positive expression. Outside of mathematics, the 
positive realm is very narrow, although daily enlarg- 
ing with the acquisition of knowledge. If an object 
has never been observed to move, the evidence of 
witnesses may yield an infinitely probable proof. 
Circumstantial evidence in law rests on this prin- 
ciple. 

It is considered, if several witnesses of known 



60 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

veracity agree in their statements, it is morally cer- 
tain that they speak the truth. Thus, if a witness 
is of sufficient veracity and clearness of sight to 
speak the truth ten times out of eleven, then there 
are ten chances to one that any statement he may 
make is correct. If another witness, of equal relia- 
bility, aver to the same, the chances are ten times 
ten, or one hundred. If a third testify to the same, 
the probabilities are ten times one hundred, or one 
thousand. 

27. The Senses. 

The testimony of the senses is received in law 
as prima-facie evidence. No judge would suppose 
that he was imposed upon, and no counsel argue 
that witnesses should be set aside because no faith 
can be placed in the eyes or ears. Life and death 
are made dependent on the senses : otherwise all 
received rules of evidence must be set aside. We 
live in a dream-world ; and so hallucinated are we, 
that there are none to tell us of our hallucination. 
We receive Berkeley's idea, that the external world 
is only a fancy of the mind without any real exist- 
ence. 

When thousands of reliable witnesses testify that 
they have seen objects moved without contact, the 
probabilities are infinite that they have done so. 
No amount of negative testimony is of any avail. 
That a thousand individuals have not seen a table 
move, does not invalidate the testimony of one who 
has. 



Evidences of Spiritualism. 61 

28. Belief Educational. 

We place the greatest reliance on the evidence of 
our senses ; and, although we say we take that of 
others reported to us as equally valuable, practically 
we do not believe until we have seen, especially that 
which is unusual, and out of the common order. 
Our egotism makes us consider ourselves the best 
judges in the world. Belief is very much a matter 
of education ; and we have little hope that all the 
argument possible to produce will be of any avail. 
Hence we rely on facts. The advent of Spiritualism 
is through facts, and not theories. Its purpose is to 
destroy theories, and place positive knowledge in 
their stead. 

29. Spirit is Individualized Force. 

It is in the invisible, the intangible, not in the ex- 
ternal and tangible, that force resides. Power must 
be an attribute of spirit, and spirit only ; for the 
gross external, what in common speech is called 
matter, is nothing without life. 

30. One Fact is of more Value than a thou- 
sand Theories ; 

And, if it can be proved that spirit can move matter, 
its modus operandi is of secondary consideration. 

31. Why not given to the World before. 

Had it in any former age assumed its positive, 
rationalistic character, the world would not have 



62 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

been ready to receive it. Mediums would have 
been destroyed as wizards and witches, and dark- 
ness would have been triumphant. 

Spirits cannot exceed, in their communications, 
the intellectual temperature of the age; nor can 
man. The most exalted genius is chained by the 
demands of his time. He cannot far exceed it : 
neither can spirits ; else, as is expressed in a homely 
proverb, they will be casting pearls before swine. 
This objection can be made against every system 
in the world. Why was not Christianity introduced 
before? Was it not needed as imperatively three 
thousand years ago as now ? There is a repug- 
nance, in some quarters, to the doctrine that spirits 
return to earth. The old mythological idea, that 
they slept until the resurrection trump, or went di- 
rect to a place from whence they could not escape, 
has secured such a strong hold that it is difficult to 
eradicate it. The objection has been ably met by a 
distinguished writer. 

32. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE FOR SPIRITS TO RETURN? 

By the same method by which they leave the 
world. How do they leave ? Let the skeptic an- 
swer. If it be asked, "How can they converse ? ,; we 
reply, " How can men converse, thousands of miles 
apart, by an earthly telegraph ? " We are told, by 
the medium of electricity. You have, then, our an- 
swer ; and we would press the inquiry by asking if 
men, by a knowledge of the eternal principles of 



Evidences of Spiritualism. 63 

nature, can daguerreotype a human countenance 
upon a metallic plate, think you it must be impos- 
sible for spirit-friends to stamp an idea, a thought, 
a sentence, a book, upon the human intellect ? 
Which is the more reasonable to suppose, — that 
God, in the constitution of his universe, left no 
means of communication for his children, or that 
he has given to all the agencies of reciprocal ap- 
proach and friendship. 

33. Not New. 

Although greatly developed in the present, spirit- 
communication is by no means new. The world 
was not prepared to receive the phase they have 
taken now ; but history is filled with accounts of 
spirit-manifestations. Poets have sung of it in all 
ages. It has entered into the sacred and current 
literature of all races. The Old Testament is filled 
with it : it is the warp and woof of the sacred books 
of all nations. So far from being new, it is as old as 
mankind. 

In the year 364 of our era, or fifteen hundred and 
five years ago, in the reign of the Roman Emperor 
Valens, mediums conversed by means of rappings, 
and employed the alphabet. The spirit-pendulum, 
almost exactly in result like the dial, was then in 
use. It consisted of a ring suspended by a thread 
over a bowl of water, around the margin of which 
the alphabet was arranged. By successively swing- 
ing to the desired letters, words and sentences were 
spelled. Numa Pompilius used it in this manner in 



64 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

augury. Such a pendulum has been used by mod- 
ern mediums successfully. 

The subject passed into disrepute as a black art, 
and dealings with the Devil. Learned men scoff at 
the dial as a new trick. If it be one, it is fifteen 
centuries old. 

34. First Manifestations. 

In the little village of Hydesville, N. Y., stood 
a small, unpretending dwelling, temporarily occu- 
pied by an honest farmer and his family, — a wife 
and two daughters. He removed to it on the 
nth of December, 1847; and, from the first, the 
manifestations began. "The noises increased night- 
ly ; and occasionally they heard footsteps in the 
rooms. The children felt something heavy lie on 
their feet when in bed ; and Kate felt, as it were, a 
cold hand passed over her face. Sometimes the 
bed-clothes were pulled off; chairs and dining-tables 
were moved from their places. Mr. and Mrs. Fox, 
night after night, lighted a candle, and explored the 
whole house in vain. Raps were made on the doors 
as they stood close to them ; but, on suddenly open- 
ing them, no one was visible." They were far from 
superstitious, and still hoped for some natural ex- 
planation, especially as the annoyance always took 
place in the night. 

35. They assume a new Character. 

In March, 1848, they assumed a new character. 
The children's bed had been moved into the room 



Evidences of Spiritualism. 65 

of their parents ; but scarcely had Mrs. Fox lain 
down when the noises became as violent as before. 
The children shouted, "Here they are again." Their 
father shook the sashes to see if they were not moved 
by the wind, when the lively Kate observed that the 
sounds were imitated. She then snapped her fin- 
gers, and asked it to repeat, which was done. She 
then simply made motions with her thumb and fin- 
ger, and the rap followed. The invisible power, 
whatever it was, could see and hear. Mrs. Fox's 
attention was arrested. She asked it to count ten, 
which it did. " How old is my daughter Marga- 
ret ? " Twelve raps. " And Kate ? " Nine. " How 
many children have I ? " Seven. " Ah ! you blun- 
der," she thought : " try again." Seven. Then she 
suddenly thought. " Are they all alive ? ' No an- 
swer. "How many are living ? " Six raps. " How 
many dead ? " One rap. She had lost one child. 
She then asked if it was a man. No answer. Was 
it a spirit ? Raps. She then asked if the neighbors 
might hear it ; and Mrs. Redfield was called in, who 
only laughed at the idea of a ghost, but was soon 
made serious by its correcting her about the number 
of her children, insisting on one more than she 
counted. She, too, had lost one ; and, when she 
recollected this, she burst into tears. 

36. They extend to other Localities. 

It is needless to recount the numerous investiga- 
tions that were made, and how the little girls always 
5 



66 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

escaped suspicion of imposture. Having become 
intelligible, the spirits determined to improve their 
opportunity ; and rappings were heard in the house 
of Mr. Grainger, a wealthy citizen of Rochester, and 
in that of Dr. Phelps at Stratford, Conn. In the 
latter, they became very destructive ; cut the cloth- 
ing off his boy, broke windows, threw down glass 
and porcelain. He says, " I have seen things in mo- 
tion above a thousand times, and, in most cases, 
when no visible power existed by which the motion 
could be produced. There have been broken seven- 
ty-one panes of glass, more than thirty of which I 
have seen broken before my eyes." 

Such was the advent of the mighty spiritual move- 
ment. If it had not been discovered that the sounds 
were intelligent, and the discovery followed out, the 
old house might have been considered as haunted, 
deserted ; and nothing more resulted. But the time 
had arrived for this development ; and, seized by the 
powerful and flexible American mind, it has, in a 
score of years, become the spiritual life of millions. 

37. Advent of Spiritualism in France. 

About the time Spiritualism was first introduced 
into the United States, or somewhat previously, M. 
Cahagnet, a working-man of France, had, by means 
of clairvoyance, solved the great problem of spirit- 
ual existence, and the possibility of intercourse with 
spirits. 

When perusing his book, "The Celestial Tele- 



Evidences of Spiritualism. 67 

graph," every one must be forcibly struck with his 
candor, his honesty of purpose, untiring zeal, and 
general accuracy. We can only regret, that, in his 
ardor, he admitted statements without sufficient cir- 
cumspection, which weaken rather than strengthen 
his positions. His magnetized clairvoyants taught 
him almost all the great principles of spirit exist- 
ence, as believed by Spiritualists at present. The 
identification of spirits was well understood by him ; 
and his best clairvoyant rarely failed to give accu- 
rate descriptions of spirits that she said were pres- 
ent. 

A few instances of this result illustrate the count- 
less facts narrated by this author. 

" M. Renard, of whom I have already spoken, — a 
a man to whom I am indebted for the little knowl- 
edge I possess in magnetism, — being called to Paris 
on business, begged me to send Adele to sleep, and 
give him a sitting similar to what he had read of in 
my journal. I was most happy to comply with the 
wishes of so sincere a friend, and so judicious and 
well-informed a man. Scarcely was Adele asleep, 
when he called for a person named Desforges, an 
old friend of his, who had been dead fifteen years. 
Desforges appeared. M. Renard had so accurate a 
description given him of his friend, that left no 
doubt as to the reality of his apparition. A dispute 
took place between him and Adele (though he was 
not en rapport with her) as to the dress of this per- 
sorr, — Adele maintaining that he appeared to her in 
a blouse slit in front ; while M. Renard declared that 



68 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

he had never seen him in such an article of dress, 
and usually wore a jacket or round vest. After 
puzzling his brains for some time, M. Renard recol- 
lected, in fact, that, some time before he left his 
friend, people began to wear, in his part of the coun- 
try, blouses of this kind ; and he wore such a one as 
Adele described. It would be useless to mention 
the minute details, attitudes, language, &c, with 
which Adele persuades persons consulting her on 
such a point." 

" Up to this day, I had never desired that any of 
my clairvoyants should see any of the deceased 
members of my own family, for a reason that will be 
appreciated ; viz., that they might have depicted to 
me an image engraven on my memory. I had a 
mind to try Madame Gouget. I asked for my 
mother by her Christian name, and also by her 
maiden name, and was very much surprised when 
Madame Gouget told me she saw a very old woman. 
After a minute description, and particularly as to a 
mark that she told me she perceived on the left 
cheek of this woman, I recognized in her my grand- 
mother, who was precisely as Madame Gouget de- 
scribed her to me. This apparition, uncalled for, 
and which I was far from expecting, was owing to 
the resemblance of the names of my mother and 
grandmother. I ought not to have asked for my 
mother by her maiden name. I had already fallen 
into a like error with Adele, when several members 
of the same family presented themselves on account 
of the resemblance in the names. To make sure 



Evidences of Spirihialism. 69 

whether Madame Gouget really beheld my grand- 
mother, I put to her questions the answers to which 
removed all my doubts in this respect. My mother 
appeared at the same time ; and the portrait she 
painted of her was quite true. ,, 

" Louise, Adele's niece, comes in haste to tell her 
that her brother is about to appear to her. ' Oh, 
here he is ! It is my brother Alphonse, who died in 
Africa/ — ' When ? ■ — ' Four years ago/ — ' On what 
day?' — 'I don't know/ — 'Ask him/ — The nth 
of August/ — l How is he attired ? ' — 'In the uni- 
form of a dragoon/ — ' Is that his dress in heaven ?' 
— ■ ' No : it is that of the corps in which he served 
before his death ; and it was in this costume that I 
saw him on earth/ — ' Why is he dressed thus ? ' — 
* Spirits must surely appear in the costume and con- 
dition by which they were known on earth : other- 
wise we should be unable to recognize them/ — 
' Since you did not ask for him, who told him to 
come and see you?' — 'My little niece/ — 'Is she 
with him at this moment?' — 'Yes; and how beauti- 
ful she is I Her fine black hair falls in ringlets on 
her shoulders, as on the day of her first communion.' 
— 'And Alphonse — does he appear to you hand- 
some ? ' — ' Oh, indeed he does. His forehead, which 
was, however, very dark, appears to me as white as 
snow. He tells me that it will not be long before I 
see my mother, father, and brother-in-law. I have 
no wish, however, to see the last-named one : he 
was too wicked on earth.' — ' If in heaven there is 
no wickedness, you must not think of the past.' — 



7<d Arcana of Spiritualism. 

' I won't see him ! ' Adele stretches out her arm to 
detain her niece, who has just quitted her, despite 
her efforts. It is surprising to see the mimicry, 
the apparent mutual understanding, the contrariety. 
One cannot doubt the reality of the scenes in which 
the imagination, as we may believe, is not always 
strongest ; for nothing appears to respond to the 
caprices of the clairvoyant." 

The way was thus prepared in France, where 
Spiritualism has made a rapid but singular growth. 

38. Unexpected Report. 

The often abrupt and unlooked-for message from 
a spirit-friend is conclusive evidence that it does not 
originate in the minds of the circle or medium. 
Prof. Hare records some interesting facts bearing 
on this subject. 

"Agreeable to my experience in a multitude of 
cases, spirits have reported themselves who were 
wholly unexpected, and when others were expected. 
When I was expecting my sister in Boston, my 
brother reported himself. Lastly, when expecting 
her, 'Cadwallader* was spelled out, being the name 
of an old friend, who forthwith gave me a test prov- 
ing his identity. As this spirit had never visited 
my disk before, I had not the smallest expectation 
of his coming." 

" Being at Cape May, one of my guardian spirits 
was with me frequently. On the third instant, at 
one o'clock A. M., I requested the faithful being in 



Evidences of Spiritualism. 7 1 

question to go to my friend Mrs. Gourlay, in Phila- 
delphia, and request her to induce Dr. Gourlay to 
go to the bank to ascertain at what time a note 
would be due, and that I could be at the instrument 
(his dial) at half-past three o'clock to receive the 
answer. Accordingly, at that time, my spirit-friend 
manifested herself, and gave me the result of the 
inquiry. On my return to the city, I learned from 
Mrs. Gourlay that my angelic messenger had inter- 
rupted a communication which was taking place 
through the spiritscope, in order to communicate 
my message ; and, in consequence, her husband and 
brother went to the bank, and made the inquiry, by 
which the result was that communication to me at 
half-past three o'clock by my spirit-friend." 

In the experience of Mrs. Gourlay, a medium 
relied on by Prof. Hare, many interesting facts are 
stated. Among others, the following : — 

"While spending the evening of Jan. 21, 1854, at 
the house of a friend, it was proposed by the lady 
and her husband that we form a circle. We had 
not been long seated at the table, when three ladies, 
two of whom I had never seen, favored us with their 
company, and took their seats at some distance 
from the circle. They had been seated in the room 
but two or three minutes, when the following was 
given through the table : — 

" ' My dear Mother, — In love I meet you this 
evening. O mother ! why do you mourn my death ? 
I have just begun to live. Grieve not for me. I 



72 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

wish my husband to investigate Spiritualism, I will 
communicate to him. Why should you erect a mon- 
umental slab to my memory ? Let me live in the 
hearts of my friends ! 

"'Sarah North/ 

" When the gentleman who took down the com- 
munication read it, I was surprised at hearing the 
name, ' North/ that being my maiden name. As 
there was no Sarah in our family, I asked the spirit, 
'Who is Sarah North?' Before it had time to reply, 
one of the ladies referred to approached the table in 
tears. She said, ' That is from my daughter Sarah. 
I have been engaged to-day in the solemn duty of 
erecting a tombstone to her memory.' " 

39. Value of Dark Circles. 

As an incentive to investigation, dark circles have 
their uses ; but they are usually of far greater disad- 
vantage than benefit. The cause of Spiritualism is 
the worse for what they have done. The opportu- 
nities for trickery and deception are so great, and 
the chances for detection so small, that it is difficult 
to distinguish the true from the false. They should 
be discouraged by Spiritualists. The amusing feats 
of rope-tying and ledgerdemain, at best, are the work 
of earthly spirits, and without instruction. There is 
no spiritual phenomena that cannot occur in a room 
J sufficiently lighted to allow objects to be discerned 
as well as in absolute darkness ; and the medium 



Evidences of Spiritualism. 73 

who refuses to submit to conditions which do not 
conflict with those necessary for the manifestations 
should be mistrusted. So far as true spiritual phe- 
nomena are concerned, tying the medium with 
thread or twine or tarred cord, or confining with 
handcuffs, is as well as with ropes. It is by pre- 
tense to the contrary that charlatans flourish, who 
insist that a rope, easily slipped and untied, is 
essential. They flourish because, whenever proper 
safeguards are used, no manifestations occur, the 
" conditions " not being right ; and, when these are 
removed, they give " astounding manifestations," 
because there is no chance for detection. The time 
is not far distant when all those who have been con- 
vinced by " dark-circle manifestations," or have been 
connected with and upheld them, will suffer deepest 
disappointment. 

The faith based on such " tests " constantly seeks 
new wonders, asking for greater and still greater ; 
and the believer thus brought into the fold is not 
of value in extending the influence of Spiritualism. 
These manifestations have given no positive evi- 
dence in favor of Spiritualism. They are impos- 
sible of demonstration, and the most exact so liable 
-to error as to be valueless as proof. 

40. Moving Physical Objects without Contact. 

The only physical phenomena from which all 
sources of error are eliminated are the moving of 
physical objects without contact, and the identifica- 



i 



74 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

tion of spirits by means of the intelligence mani- 
fested by the movements. This is the absolute test 
of Spiritualism. 

Prof. Hare, in his careful and extended experi- 
ments, recognized the value of such manifestations, 
and invented an apparatus which rendered decep- 
tion impossible. His researches are the most per- 
fect scientific demonstration of Spiritualism yet 
produced, and, if made in any other field, would 
have been received without question. Prof. Hare's 
method is purely scientific. His experiments, insti- 
tuted with great philosophic ingenuity, can be sub- 
mitted to the test by any one, and, if acknowledged 
as correct, are perfectly demonstrative.* 

Of the several contrivances he employed, only 
two need be mentioned. The first isolated the 
medium by mounting a small board on balls, rest- 
ing on the top of the table. The medium's hand 
resting on the top of the board, of course, at the 
slightest movement, the balls would roll. Valuable 

* " The most precise and laborious experiments which I 
have made in my investigation of Spiritualism have been 
assailed by the most disparaging suggestions as respects my 
capacity to avoid being the dupe of any medium employed. 
Had my conclusions been of the opposite kind, how much 
fulsome exaggeration had there been, founded on my experi- 
ence as an investigator of science for more than half a cen- 
tury ! " Speaking of the above apparatus, "It was on stating 
this result to the Association for the Advancement of Science, 
that I met with much the same reception as the King of Ava 
gave the Dutch ambassador who alleged water to be at times 
solidified in his country, by cold, so as to be walked upon." 



Evidences of Spiritualism. 75 

communications were received by the movements 
of tables thus situated. The second apparatus was 
more ingeniously contrived. "A board is supported 
on a rod, so as to make it serve as a fulcrum, as 
in a see-saw, excepting that the fulcrum is at the 
distance of only one foot from the end, while it is 
three feet from the other. This end is supported 
by a spring-balance, which indicates pounds and 
ounces by a rotary index. Upon this board, at 
about six inches from the fulcrum, is placed an 
inverted glass vase nine inches in diameter." Into 
this vase a wire cage or basket is let down so as to 
approach within an inch of the brim. The vase is 
filled with water. Now it is apparent that any press- 
ure on the board will be indicated by the balance ; 
but the medium's hands placed in the water cannot 
give that pressure, as the cage effectually cuts them 
off from contact with the vase. If manifestations 
are obtained in this manner, they cannot be referred 
to human agency. Yet Prof. Hare obtained not 
only movements of the balance, but communica- 
tions, in presence of his scientific friends. The 
balance indicated a pressure of eighteen pounds, 
and "would probably have been depressed much 
more, but that the water had been spilled by any 
further inclination of the vase." 

Manifestations thus obtained are no more posi- 
tive than the movement of a table without contact ; 
but errors are more readily detected and guarded 
against. 

If Prof. Hare's investigations be received, it must 



76 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

be admitted that spiritual beings do communicate, 
or that there exists an unrecognized force, possess- 
ing intelligence, and capable of identifying itself as 
being that of our departed friends, — a conclusion 
requiring far greater credulity than the first. The 
moving of tables is the most common of manifesta- 
tions : but I introduce the following statement from 
Owen as a representative of its class ; and, if admit- 
ted, it at once silences all theories yet advanced by 
scientific men to explain the phenomena. 

" The imposition of hands is 710 1 a necessary condi- 
tion. In the dining-room of a French nobleman, the 
Count d'Ourches, residing near Paris, I saw, on the 
first day of October, 1858, in broad daylight, a 
dinner-table seating seven persons, with fruit and 
wine on it, rise, and settle down, while all the guests 
were standing around it, and not one of them touch- 
ing it at all. All present saw the same thing. Mr. 
Kyd, son of the late Gen. Kyd of the British army, 
and his lady, told me (in Paris, in April, 1859), that, 
in December of the year 1857, during an evening 
visit to a friend, who resided at No. 28 Rue de la 
Ferme des Mathurins, at Paris, Mrs. Kyd, seated in 
an arm-chair, suddenly felt it move, as if some one 
had laid hold of it from beneath. Then slowly and 
gradually it rose into the air, and remained there 
suspended for the space of about thirty seconds, the 
lady's feet being four or five feet from the ground ; 
then it settled down gently and gradually, so that 
there was no shock when it touched the carpet. 
No one was touching the chair when it rose, nor 



Evidences of Spiritualism. 77 

did any one approach it while in the air, except 
Mr. Kyd, who, fearing an accident, advanced, and 
touched Mrs. Kyd. The room was, at the time, 
brightly lighted, as a French salon usually is ; and, 
of the eight or nine persons present, all saw the 
same thing in the same way. I took notes of the 
above, as Mr. and Mrs. Kyd narrated to me the oc- 
currence ; and they kindly permitted, as a voucher 
for its truth, the use of their names. 

Here is no drawing-up of a heavy object, without 
effort, with the fingers, the concomitant which Mr. 
Faraday speaks of as indispensable. And the 
phenomenon occurred in a private drawing-room, 
among persons of high social position, educated 
and intelligent. Thousands in the most enlight- 
ened countries of the world can testify to the like. 
Are they all to be spoken of as " ignorant of their 
ignorance " ? 

41. The Evidence of Psychometry. 

Since the application of the impressibility of mind 
to the delineation of character, and its extension by 
experimental research by Mr. Denton, few doubt the 
\J truth of psychometry, as the new science has been 
named. It is found that an autograph placed on 
the forehead enables a sensitive person to delineate 
perfectly the character of the writer. 

If the mind so affects the paper that the charac- 
ter of the writer be obtained, it is a matter of just 
inference that a spirit's autograph, if truly originat- 



78 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

ing from a spirit, would not give the character of 
the medium through whom it was written, but of 
the spirit -writer. If this be true, it goes a great 
way in the support of Spiritualism. It is the next 
thing to an absolute demonstration. My experi- 
ments on this subject have been various and suc- 
cessful. I first procured an autograph letter from 
the medium. This gave, by psychometry, his true 
character, which was as follows : — 

" This is a very passive organization. This per- 
son could be easily molded to the influence of 
others. Naturally is very pure in thought, yet 
adapts himself to the company he is in. In mat- 
ters of right, could meet tremendous opposition 
unflinchingly ; yet would repine at his lot. Is very 
susceptible. Natural powers not large ; yet there 
appears a degree of activity or excitement in the 
mind produced by apparently foreign agency, — I 
can't understand it. There seems a contradiction, 
as of two minds ; but it is certain his natural pow- 
ers are not as large as they appear to be. They are 
very active. This person has large spirituality ; is 
refined and spiritual in his thoughts ; is rather cast 
down by the things of this world, too much for his 
own good. The animalities are all small ; and he 
lacks energy and decision ; is not persevering." I 
here asked if he could be impressed by spiritual 
agency. " Yes ; but it would be by an inferior 
order of spirits, unless he wrote mechanically." — 
"What organs induced him to take the stand he 
has in regard to Spiritualism ? " — "Approbativeness, 



Evidences of Spiritualism. 79 

or that peculiar organization which had rather be 
talked badly about than not at all. There is not 
enough depth about him for a Spiritualist ; and he 
can do that cause no good, but would be apt to 
bring it into disrepute by the unsatisfactory com- 
munications he is liable to receive, and the manner 
he relates them, and the explanations he attaches.'' 

This delineation was very satisfactory. The fol- 
lowing autographs were obtained through this me- 
dium, being written mechanically. The difference 
between the influence they gave, and that of the 
medium, is remarkable. The first was derived from 
the autograph of President Taylor. 

" This is a stern, resolute man. His will and his 
energy are predominant He never stops to exam- 
ine the right of the cause in which he is engaged, 
but does his work as he is commanded. He is not 
consecutive, nor has he given the subject sufficient 
thought to be liberal. He would be an infidel, or, 
at least, inclined that way. There is no order about 
him. His pride is in being slovenly. He never 
stops to consider the justness of his cause, but how 
he may accomplish his end ; is Jesuitical, consider- 
ing the cause as justifying the means. Would make 
a good warrior as regards courage and perseverance, 
but would be deficient in the qualities which make 
a great commander. He would not be apt to see 
the traps a wily foe might lay for him, if not remind- 
ed continually of it He would be a good Indian 
warrior, to command a few hundred or a thousand 
men, but would be incapable of a greater command." 



80 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

— " What kind of a statesman would he make ? " — 
" Indifferent. He was never designed for any civil 
office. He could not stand the necessary mental 
labor and anxiety of mind. He requires a great 
deal of bodily exercise, and can bear little mental 
toil. His thoughts have been revolutionized ; and 
he has become progressive and hopeful. It ap- 
pears that he has entirely changed his mode of 
life, his occupation, and that his mind does not 
act in its old and accustomed channel. There is a 
great agitation of feeling, a retrospective on past 
incidents, regrets for deeds committed in former 
years, for which I am unable to account. Spiritual 
feelings seem to be slowly awakening." 

The reason for the last remark will be seen when 
it is known that the psychometrist first obtained 
impressions of the earthly character, and, lastly, of 
the spiritual. 

The next autograph was one of Lord Bacon. 

" This is a character which looks deeply into the 
philosophy of things. His mind is contemplative 
and reflective. He would be liable to be led into 
the fields of philosophical inquiry : if so, his philos- 
ophy would be inductive, and deal in facts and 
causes. I cannot express, by words, the depths 
of mind. It seems as if this was a mind that had 
been years and years maturing, yet possessing all 
the vigor and strength of youth, — so mature in its 
wisdom, so laborious in its research. It is a won- 
derful mind, — one of giant powers, of capabilities 
sufficient to grasp the ultimate of causes, and solve 



Evidences of Spiritualism. 81 

the vastest problems of nature. It has wonderful 
powers, — an intellect like a God ; and over that 
intellect sits a superior and pure morality, unlike 
that which controls the actions of other men. 
There is ethereality of thought, a boundlessness of 
desire, a mighty grasping after the great truths 
which lie beyond the sphere of human knowledge, 
that I cannot express. The influence is cheerful, 
hopeful, loving, angelic. " 

This delineation ascribes far too pure a morality 
to Paeon. It represents his present rather than 
his earthly life. 

42. Spirit Identification by Psychometry. 

Admitting the truth of Spiritualism, it has been 
said that it was impossible to identify our friends ; 
but here we have the key which unlocks all the 
mysteries that lie in the invisible domain beyond 
the senses, and a complete identification of our 
spirit-friends. We have also a test for the truth- 
fulness of the medium : for, if he writes himself, it 
will give his own character ; while, if a spirit writes, 
it will give the character of the spirit. We also 
have the truthfulness of the communication deter- 
mined by the character of the spirit-author. A test 
of identity has been asked for ; and here it is given. 
Spiritualists will do well to subject communications 
to this test, and demonstrate, to their own satisfac- 
tion, their correctness. I ask the skeptic to answer, 
— as the two last-given delineations could not have 

6 



82 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

been derived from the medium, whose character, as 
given, is so decidedly different, and as the psy- 
chometrist knew nothing of the character of the 
writer, — from whom could the last delineations 
have been derived ? Until this is satisfactorily 
answered, this test must be considered as a dem- 
onstration that the spirit exists, and holds inter- 
course with earth. 

These two delineations are not given as sufficient, 
of themselves, to prove beyond a doubt the value of 
psychometric delineations. They are taken from 
a mass of similar readings, as illustrations as well as 
proofs. The experiments are so easily tested that 
any one may prove the position for himself. A 
hundred illustrations would not set the principle 
before the mind more distinctly. 

Following this method, the autographs of spirits 
may be employed for their identification, and that 
even when they are executed by impressions. The 
influence of the latter is more mixed, partaking of 
the character of the medium, but always reveals its 
spirit origin. 

It is not our intention to give a compilation of 
the facts, but an outline of the philosophy, of Spirit- 
ualism; Facts have already been compiled, and 
volumes innumerable might be written. Little is 
gained by them, except as they excite inquiry ; for 
no amount of written statement can equal a single 
seaiice with a truthful medium. Spirit communion 
must be brought in direct contact with our reason, 
we must receive the direct words of our dear de- 



Evidences of Spiritualism. 83 

parted friends, to have the reality of their exist- 
ence become to us, not only a belief, but absolute 
knowledge. 

43. What Good. 

It is often asked, " What is the good of spiritual 
communications ? " The question is urged as if it 
really was an argument. We might as well ask, 
" What is the good of the stars shining, or the rising 
of the sun ? What is the use of human existence ; 
of life in any of its multitudinous forms ? ' To an- 
swer would extremely perplex the most astute meta- 
physician. We take existence as a fact, nor can we 
answer wherefore. The world exists, and man ex- 
ists ; but who can tell what good is to grow out of 
that existence ? 

Whether Spiritualism is moral or immoral in its 
tendencies ; whether we understand its uses or not, 
— affects not the grand question at issue. On other 
grounds, how can this heartless question be asked ? 
Is it not a good to us to know that our loved ones 
exist on the other side of the grave ; to have all 
doubts and misgivings swept away by their sweet 
voices speaking to us of an infinite future ? Chris- 
tianity is of little worth compared to this beautiful 
demonstration. Prostrated though we are at the 
side of the cold grave, through our blinding tears, 
and the night of our sorrow, we see the loved forms 
of our departed angels ; and their words of cheer 
sound sweetly over the agitated ocean of our grief. 
Cut bono f The value of all we possess, though it 



84 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

were the oceaned world, would be freely given for 
one single word from their angel-life. 



44. Personal Experience. 

In the " Banner of Light," 1865, might be noticed 
an obituary. That short paragraph related an event 
which overwhelmed us, and gave us to drink of the 
bitterest cup of grief. 

Aggie, a sister adopted in our family circle as our 
child, and, under our care, matured into the. fulfill- 
ment of the brightest destiny, went from us a per- 
fect representation of health. We answered the 
telegram that said she could not live, but too late. 
Even the poor consolation of a parting word was 
denied us. Her beautiful features still showed 
marks of terrible pain, — that was all. She was 
frozen to marble. 

I had thought that the spiritual philosophy would 
sustain one in this trial ; that, knowing the spirit 
existed, the keen edge of our grief would be taken 
off. For the time, this was not so. We are accus- 
tomed to form our judgment by the senses. 

As we stand before the corpse of our departed 
friend, our grief overwhelms our intuitions, and 
darkens our spiritual perceptions. When we cry 
in our agony, the waves of feeling deafen our ears 
to the sound of spirit-voices. Our eyes meet the 
wreck of the beautiful, inanimate, still, cold, dead, 
and, with the heartlessness of our materiality, tell 
us there is nothing beyond. Soon will the elements 



Evidences of Spiritualism. 85 

claim their own from the sleeping ; and a year 
shall suffice to dissolve the being which for a time 
cheered us by her winning ways, and scatter her 
ashes to the winds. 

Thus Materialism, stifling, dark, and dreadful, 
took the place of Spiritualism, and was sustained 
by the senses, and unopposed by spiritual percep- 
tions too lacerated to feel. The days came, and 
went : slowly our minds assumed their normal con- 
dition ; and the desire to communicate with the de- 
parted remained to be answered. 

Then began the most complete and satisfactory 
series of communications I have ever witnessed. 
They were free from any collusion on the part of 
any one outside of ourselves, as Mrs. Tuttle and 
myself were usually the only persons at the table 
or in the room. 

We had often endeavored to have the table tip, 
but had failed. Now, however, we had a spirit in 
the shadow, in unison with ourselves ; and the gate- 
way of communication was opened. 

I had previously seen her clairvoyantly, but so 
dimly, so shadowy, I doubted whether it was not a 
conjuration of a disturbed mind. Those doubts 
have been removed. It was before her funeral ; 
and the attractions of earth remained unimpaired. 
She was sad, and unable to speak. Her spirit- 
mother was with her ; and, in thought, I asked her 
if she intended to remain, and witness the painful 
ceremony of the morrow. She answered, " I would 
not have my child see it : we go away, not to return 
until all is over." 



86 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

We held a seance nearly every evening ; and she 
was always present, and gave us some word of as- 
surance. Sometimes she failed to answer correctly, 
the table being uncontrollable. At other times, all 
her ^answers were perfectly correct for an hour's 
questioning. We soon learned to discriminate ; and, 
so far from supposing that undeveloped spirits came 
at those disturbed seances, we knew the fault lay in 
our own organizations. The details of these seances 
are very interesting to us, but not to the public. I 
shall relate but one incident, as it illustrates the 
spirit's power of prophecy. 

Shortly after her departure, and at our stance, 
she informed us that her father, who was slightly ill, 
could not recover. This was against our reason ; 
for his sickness was not considered serious. Two 
weeks afterwards, she fixed the day of his death at 
nearly three months ahead. About two weeks pre- 
vious to the time she had fixed for that event, she 
came, and, by the tedious process of spelling by the 
alphabet, gave the following communication to her 
sister : — 

"Emma, prepare to go to Eraceville. Father has 
dictated a letter to-day, wishing you to come. He 
is not yet ready to die ; but, if you do not go, you 
will not have an opportunity to enjoy his society 
on earth again. The letter will reach you on Thurs- 
day ; and, on Friday, you must go." 

The letter came, and the spirit-voice was obeyed ; 
and if conferring happiness on those who are dear, 
during the last days of their mortal life, be a life- 



Evidences of Spiritualism. 87 

long comfort to us, we are thankful for that thought- 
ful admonition. 

Her father lived twelve hours past the time she 
had appointed ; but* at the very time he sank away, 
so completely that all thought he had breathed his 
last, he recovered, and exclaimed, — 

" What a beautiful scene ! I saw " — 

He could not complete the sentence. He strug- 
gled through the night ; and just as the sun arose 
in the east, and the birds awoke the earth with song, 
his spirit arose into heaven, and awoke to the song 
of angels. 

I often asked her to go to the " Banner y> circle- 
room, and communicate ; but she said that she could 
not approach on account of the number of strange 
spirits congregated there. She said that she could 
do so, however, if I went with her. 

At length the opportunity offered. I met Mrs. 
Conant several times ; but I did not urge a seance. 
I too well understand the laws of spirit-commu- 
nication to think satisfactory results can be com- 
manded: they must flow voluntarily. I almost be- 
came assured not to expect anything through Mrs. 
Conant ; but one evening, as we were engaged in 
conversation, she suddenly became entranced. Her 
manner, her tears, identified the controlling spirit. 
Aggie, in broken accents, said that this first direct 
contact with earth completely overpowered her ; and 
she could only say how much she loved us all, how 
sad our grief made her, and that we must not mourn 
for her any more. 



88 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

To a skeptic, there was furnished no test ; . but 
that was to come. She remarked that she had 
found a medium through whom she could write all 

she desired, and I must meet her at Miss S 's 

at eleven o'clock on the next day. 

I met the engagement punctually. I had never 
seen the medium before, and did not give her my 
name. I simply told her I had called for a seance. 
We sat down on opposite sides of a table ; and she 
told me I could write whatever questions I desired, 
and, after folding the paper tightly, lay it on the 
table. I wrote, " Will the spirit who made this en- 
gagement write her name ? " 

I rolled the paper closely, and laid it on the table. 
Immediately the medium wrote, " Maggie." This 
was written, as is all she writes, reversed ; so that it 
must be held before a mirror to be read. I wrote, 
"That is wrong." Instantly the medium's hand 
was again influenced ; and the " M ' was stricken 
off, leaving the name correctly spelled, — " Aggie." 
Then I wrote, " I do not want to ask questions : 
write whatever you please." 

To this, the following was the reply ; and, consid- 
ering that to the medium I was a total stranger, 
the accuracy with which the names were given 
is astonishing. Aggie's guitar had been left at a 
friend's, and had not been touched by any one, 
remaining exactly as she left it, leaning against the 
wall. She alludes to it, as well as to the favorite 
horse "Bill;" and both allusions are tests of iden- 
tity. 



Evidences of Spiritualism. 89 

"Dear Hudson and Emma, — I am with you, 
as I promised last evening ; but I cannot control 
this medium as readily as I supposed I should be 
able to. But I shall improve, and shall be able to 
control yourself so perfectly that you will be com- 
pelled to acknowledge my presence. I have the 
same affection for you as while on earth. I shall 
never change. I am with you, in spirit, always, and 
hope to control Emma so perfectly that I can fulfill 
my imperfectly performed mission on earth. I am 
very happy : do not grieve for me. 

" Dear Emma ! dear Emma ! I am very near you. 
How I do want to give you proof of my identity ! 

" Bring my guitar home, and lay it on the table : 
perhaps I can play on it. 

" Do you remember I loved to see Emma ride ? 
but I was afraid of ' Bill/ 

" Dear little Rosa and Carl ! you miss me, don't 
you ? but I am still with you, and will lead you to 
truth and right, if you will be patient and unwaver- 
mg. 

I received other answers equally correct, but of 
too personal a character to insert here. There was 
no failure. Every question written, and rolled into 
a ball, and placed on the table, was answered in 
less time than I have occupied in writing this. But 
here let me insert a word of caution, for I would 
not convey the impression that such is invariably 
the result ; for the next day I called for a seance, 
and did not receive a single answer to my written 
questions. 



90 Arcana of Spirihialism. 

By our daily converse with this beloved spirit are 
we strengthened in our knowledge of spirit-life. 
We know that she exists as a bright immortal in 
the spirit-land ; and daily our prayer, carved in the 
marble headstone over her grave, ascends : — 

" Wait, darling, wait ! 

You have reached the heavenly strand ; 
But those you love are toiling up 
To the heights of a better land. 

" Oh, pause by the shining gates of pearl, 
Look down the narrow way ; 
And guide us, by your angel-hand, 
Into a perfect day." 



IV. 



MATTER AND FORCE I THEIR RELATIONS TO SPIRIT. 

In the study of nature, questions of force are becoming more and more 
prominent. The things to be explained are changes, active effects, 
motions in ordinary matter ; and the tendency is to regard matter, 
not acted upon, but as itself inherently active. . . . The study of 
matter resolves into the study of forces. Inert objects, as they appear 
to the eye of sense, are replaced by activities revealed to the eye of in- 
tellect. The conceptions of gross, "corrupt," "brute matter" are 
passing away with the prejudices of the past; and, in place of a dead, 
material world, we have a living organism of spiritual energies. ■ — 
Youman. 

45. TO COMPREHEND SPIRIT, 

THE laws of the physical elements must be un- 
derstood. The moving powers of the universe 
reside within the atom. These can only be studied 
by their effects, and must be pursued through long 
and intricate mazes of investigation. The follow- 
ing pages, though seemingly foreign to our subject, 
will, in the end, be found to have a most important 
bearing on the correct comprehension of the source 
of power, and even the intelligence of the spirit- 
world. 

The new theory of force has been triumphantly 
arrayed against the possibility of immortality. This 
theory is here presented, and its relations to spirit- 
ual existence examined. Wonderful and beautiful 



92 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

is the correlation presented, and broad as the uni- 
verse the field of investigation. 



46. Ancient Science. 

The science of the ancients, if they can be said to 
have possessed a science, was an evolution from the 
mind independent of facts. The Greeks were im- 
patient of the study of external phenomena. They 
set the intellect entirely above facts, and supposed 
that it was capable of working out a system of na- 
ture from itself. Aristotle, perhaps, departed from 
this method ; but it remained for modern science to 
establish its firm basis directly on observation. In 
this consists the difference between the ancient and 
modern methods. One reasons from within out- 
ward ; the other, from the external to the internal. 
Locke's sensuous theory is scorned ; but it is the 
sheet-anchor of science, and every one of its induc- 
tions presupposes its truthfulness. Hence the in- 
ductive method has been accused of materialism ; a 
charge certainly merited, and from which it cannot 
escape. Locke's method is correct, and the induc- 
tive method is correct ; but neither have the whole 
and complete truth. Because we derive knowledge 
from the senses does not prove that all our knowl- 
edge is thus derived. Beyond stands the unex- 
plained and unexplainable I. Smelling, tasting, see- 
ing, hearing, feeling, one or combined, never yield 
reason. Because by the inductive method we ar- 
rive at truths does not prove that it is the only 



Matter and Force. 93 

channel to truth. The mind capable of understand- 
ing phenomena by observation of facts should be 
able to evolve the laws of those or other facts. 



47. Present Tendency of Thought. 

The present tendency of thought is material, so 
far as abolishing miracles, and the determination of 
phenomena by laws, are concerned ; but, in another 
direction, it has an opposite tendency. The laws 
themselves assume a spiritual outline. Scientists 
are throwing aside matter, and applying themselves 
to the study of force. Here they find the bridge 
spanning the chasm between matter and spirit ; and 
^ach day they approach nearer the latter unseen 
and mysterious realm. Each day the existence of 
gross matter becomes more doubtful. It is asked, 
" Is an atom more than a centre for the evolution 
of forces ? And what assurance is there that such 
centres will not instantly dissolve, fading into some 
other forces ? ' When a stone is dropped into water, 
its surface is thrown into waves. Now it is a seri- 
ous question of science, one of vast importance, "Is 
not an atom like the central portion of those waves, 
— a vortex from which waves of force are constantly 
thrown?' Then arises the question, " Is there any 
matter, is there anything, but force V But we can- 
not divest ourselves of the idea of substance ; the 
testimony of the senses of the existence of matter, 
the body of the universe, to which force holds the 
relation of spirit. 



94 .■ Arcana of Spiritualism. 

48. Progress. 

This tendency is observable in all departments of 
science, but more particularly in astronomy. From 
the cumbersome crystalline spheres of Ptolemy to 
the epicircles of a later date ; from these to the 
subtle vortices of an electrical medium wafting the 
planets on their swift currents, as set fcrth by Des- 
cartes, — lengthy steps were taken : but, from the 
latter, the domain of force was at once revealed by 
Newton in his incomparable doctrine of gravitation. 

In the same manner, at the close of the last 
century, chemistry made a great advance by the 
discovery of the indestructibility of matter. The 
intellect, befogged by educational prejudice, could 
never have arrived at this fact, except by mechani- 
cal means. The balance of Lavoisier was more 
penetrating than the minds of the most astute phi- 
losophers. His balance proved that matter, how- 
ever changeable in form, in weight is unchangeable. 
The invisible gas pressed downward as much as the 
heavy, black coal from which it escaped. The es- 
caping smoke was as heavy as the burned wood. 
Matter might be converted from a solid to a fluid 
or a gas, or from a gas to a solid ; but nothing is 
lost by the protean metamorphosis. 

49. Force. 

Similar is the step now taken in regard to force. 
Force is never lost. There is just so much in the 
universe, and none is destroyed, as there are so 



Matter and Force. 95 

many atoms ; and there is no less, no more. Heat, 
light, magnetism, electricity, from their discovery, 
treated as subtile, imponderable fluids pervading 
matter, have been proved to be forces, propagated 
by determinate laws, mutually convertible into each 
other, and all capable of being produced by motion. 
From a given amount of electric force, a definite 
magnetic power, heat, light, or motion may be ob- 
tained, or vice versa. When one of these expends 
itself, and cannot be discovered in its original con- 
dition, it can always be found in one of its other 
forms. This definite quantitative change has re- 
ceived the name of " correlation and conservation of 
forces!' 

50. Explanation of Force. 

It must be held in remembrance, that, by the 
term " force," nothing is explained. It is used in the 
sense of power to produce an effect ; but, of the 
cause of the individual phenomena, we are just as 
ignorant. 

Our actual knowledge results from comparison of 
the phenomena to which the term is applied. If a 
piece of caoutchouc be stretched by an application 
of weights, it will yield in proportion to the weight 
applied ; and, when the weight is removed, it will 
recoil with exactly the amount of force which was 
applied. This power is held by each of its compo- 
nent particles, and is a striking illustration of the 
conservation of force. The term may be objection- 
able, but is less so than any other, and expressive 



96 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

of the meaning implied. Force is indestructible 
and uncreatable. A spring pressed downwards by 
a weight of a hundred pounds will recoil with the 
force of a hundred pounds when the weight is 
removed. The pendulum of a clock continues to 
swing until the original power used in winding up 
the weight becomes exhausted, and not a moment 
longer. If a thousand oscillations equal a power 
of an ounce, then an ounce is subtracted from 
the original force which was applied by that number 
of movements. This is a cardinal principle, equally 
important with the eternity of matter, and should be 
thoroughly understood. To turn a wheel, the water 
must fall : every pound of power gained by the 
wheel, the water must lose. The stroke of the 
wheel consumes a definite quantity of steam. The 
labor of man consumes muscular power. 

51. Motion. 

The first idea of force is motion. The gross 
idea of motion is change of matter in space. The 
more subtile conception fades into vibrations of 
matter without any relative change. Thus we have 
a glimpse of an impalpable something transmitted, 
which operates powerfully, but changes not the sub- 
stance in its path. Thus sound is motion : it is 
nothing but motion. If the ear be placed at one 
end of a long metallic rod, and the other end be 
struck, it shortly receives an impression of sound 
conducted through the rod. The rod has not moved : 
it has only allowed something to pass through it. 



Matter and Force. 97 

That something is vibration, capable of exciting the 
auditory nerves producing hearing. Motion only has 
passed. 

52. Resolvability of Motion. 

Motion is resolvable into heat, light, magnetism, 
electricity, and what may be called, for want of a 
better name, spiritual power. The production of 
heat by motion is among the most common occur- 
rences. Wherever there is friction between moving 
surfaces, heat is produced. In machinery, oil is 
applied to all the irregularities of the surfaces so 
that they may slide freely over each other. In 
heavy machinery, there is great difficulty in pre- 
venting the rapidly revolving parts from burning. 
Car axles often take fire from this cause. By rough- 
ening the surfaces, greater friction is produced, more 
heat, and consequent loss of power. What becomes 
of this lost power ? Is it annihilated ? No. The 
precise amount of power absorbed by friction is re- 
produced as heat. Friction results from the tearing 
asunder of the inequalities of the opposing surfaces ; 
and the force necessary to tear these asunder is 
equivalent to the heat produced. In other words, 
if this heat was applied to convert water to steam, 
the steam would tear off precisely as many particles. 
Of course no allowance is here made for waste. 

53. Equivalent of Motion. 

The equivalent of one degree Fahrenheit, ex- 
pressed in motion, has been approximately deter- 



98 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

mined, by Mr. Joule, as seven hundred and seventy- 
two pounds, falling one foot. Other experimenters 
have arrived at widely different results ; but his com- 
putations are made with so much care and nicety 
that they are generally received. 

54. Light. 

Light often, and electricity always, accompanies 
friction, when the opposing surfaces are different. 
If they are homogeneous, heat results ; if not, elec- 
tricity. The intense electricity of the electrical 
machine is derived from the friction of the rubber 
against the glass wheel. 

55. Affinity. 

By means of an electrical current, decomposition 
can be effected, or chemical affinity evoked. By 
means of heat or electricity or affinity, the circle is 
completed by the production of motion. All of 
these are motions of atoms ; and all that is required 
is their proper direction to produce motion of 
masses. 

56. Exceptions. 

There are apparent exceptions, readily explain- 
able ; but it is a general truth that heat expands all 
bodies. Every increment of heat widens the dis- 
tance between the component atoms, and weakens 
their attraction, until the latter becomes so small 
that the body assumes a fluid state, or becomes gas- 
eous. A gaseous body may be considered as hold- 



Matter and Force. 99 

ing a large portion of heat as a force necessary to 
preserve its gaseous form. Mechanical pressure can 
wring this heat from it ; or, in other words, the 
capacity of the condensed gas for heat is not so 
great as in its expanded state. Heat and cold are 
relative terms. When a body is said to be heated, 
the meaning is that it is so in comparison to other 
bodies. As there is a tendency to equilibrium, to 
heat one body, we employ another having the re- 
quired temperature. Thus we understand that a 
fluid or gas is such from heat alone. 

57. Heat and Cold. 

The experiment of compressing air beautifully 
illustrates this. If air be confined in a tube, and 
forcibly compressed, a flash of light is seen ; and, if 
tinder be placed in the tube, it will become ignited : 
the reverse of this occurs when compressed gas is 
allowed rapidly to expand. Then it absorbs heat, 
and produces the phenomenon of cold. When car- 
bonic-acid gas is allowed to escape from a Harrow 
orifice, from great condensation, its expansion, on 
meeting the air, is such that it is frozen, and falls in 
a shower of snow. So cold is this frozen carbonic- 
acid gas, that, if a closed vessel, filled with water, 
be surrounded with it, and thrown into a red-hot 
crucible, the water will be almost instantly frozen. 
A little thrown on mercury will congeal it into a 
solid which can be hammered out into bars. If, 
when the mercury begins to melt, it be allowed to 



ioo Arcana of Spiritualism. 

drop into water, it will form tubes of ice in passing 
through it, it is so intensely cold. In this experi- 
ment, a portion of the gas obtains the heat neces- 
sary to convert it into a diffused gas ; but, by so 
doing, it takes so much from another portion that 
the latter becomes solid. 

When the piston of the tube before mentioned is 
pressed downwards, a soft and elastic cushion ar- 
rests its progress. In common terms, it is said this 
is the air ; but it is not. It is heat. The atoms of 
air do not touch each other. They are surrounded, 
and held apart, by heat. The piston meets with 
this resistance, which cannot be overcome more 
than the power of gravitation. 

58. Transformation of Force into Heat. 

The power applied to the piston is converted into 
heat ; and, if the compressed vapor is allowed to ex- 
pand, it does so with precisely the same force with 
which it is compressed, and the heat disappears. It 
is the same with steam. It expands, and forces the 
piston forward ; but loses, in the same ratio, its ap- 
parent heat. So slight is the quantity used, compared 
with the whole amount of heat which steam contains, 
that it is scarcely appreciable. If the whole amount 
could be used, the power of the steam-engine would 
be multiplied indefinitely. As at present construct- 
ed, the steam is rejected while at a high tempera- 
ture ; and thus a major portion of the power is lost. 
This presupposes the waste of fuel. 



Matter and Force. 101 

59. Force in Animals. 

If the full capacity for power substances offered 
be wanted, it is supplied by the animal frame. The 
most careful experiments show that a pound of 
carbon in the animal system will produce more heat 
than twenty pounds burned in the most economical 
furnaces. If this heat be converted into motion, we 
find the animal has the advantage. Mettucci found, 
that, by applying an electric current to the limbs of 
a frog, notwithstanding the defects of the apparatus, 
a much greater power was obtained than by any ar- 
tificial apparatus. 

60. Electricity. 

The friction of similar bodies produces heat ; that 
of dissimilar bodies, electricity. The old explana- 
tion, of positive and negative fluids, is utterly base- 
less ; and that of a single idio-repulsive fluid has 
been discarded. The terms " positive " and " nega- 
tive'" have served, for a long time, to conceal igno- 
rance, and show learning, and are without meaning 
when applied to two suppositional fluids. 

Perhaps not many will dissent in the end to the 
statement that electricity is the polarization of ordi- 
nary matter, — a force propagated in waves, and 
only varying in a few particulars from heat. 

61. Conduction. 

With the exception of fused metals, it is almost 
certain that no body conducts electricity without 



102 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

decomposition. It is conducted because chemical 
affinity is annulled, and the particles become polar- 
ized. The phenomenon of induction is opposed to 
the theory of a fluid, and favorable to that of polari- 
zation. When, for example, the air becomes what 
is termed positive to the earth, it is found that any 
part of the atmosphere is negative to that above, 
and positive to that below. This is experimentally 
illustrated by placing thin plates of mica on each 
other, like a pack of cards ; placing the pile between 
two metallic covers, and charging the latter like a 
Leyden jar. Upon separating the plates of mica, it 
will be found that the surface of one side is positive, 
and the other negative ; each plate being thus polar- 
ized. 

This polarization enters into the structure of the 
plate itself. If a coin be placed on a pile of thin 
plates of glass, and electrified, on removing it, and 
breathing on the plate, an image of the coin is dis- 
cernible. Even when the plate is ground and pol- 
ished, the image can be reproduced ; so that we may 
suppose that the image can be produced by each 
lamina of particles. If the plate is exposed to hy- 
drofluoric acid, the design is beautifully etched. Or 
if the plate be coated with collodion, and be passed 
through the usual photographic processes, the image 
appears on the collodion surface. The glass is not 
only polarized, but induces its peculiar state in other 
bodies with which it comes in direct contact. 

The brush flame of an electrical discharge has 
been employed as an argument in support of the ac- 






Matter and Force. 103 

tual emission of a fluid ; but the variation, according 
to the material of the discharging point, is an unan- 
swerable objection. The flame results from a vapor- 
ization and combustion of the conducting material. 
This is shown by collecting the vapor in a tube over 
the flame. Iron which is fused at a high temper- 
ature can thus be vaporized and condensed. This 
wonderful phenomenon furnishes a clew to the for- 
mation of mineral veins, which, as a general rule, 
run in the direction of what may be called the great 
magnetic currents of the earth. Metals can be 
taken up, and conveyed to remotest distances, by 
electric currents ; and their deposition produce as- 
tonishing crystalline forms of beauty. 

62. Sound. 

We may safely state, although there are cases 
where it is not yet proved, that electric currents 
always produce change by transmission. Even in 
muscle, they induce a certain change, as is proved 
by their influence ceasing after a time, and renew- 
ing after a moment's cessation. The external por- 
tion of muscle is always in a positive state to the 
internal ; that is, the component atoms are polarized. 
It is far more reasonable to refer electrical effects 
to a force than a fluid. We do not call to our as- 
sistance anything but force to account for the phe- 
nomenon of sound ; yet beautifully parallel are the 
two classes of phenomena. Electrical discharges will 
break glasses ; so will sound. They may become 



104 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

sonorous like the latter. Some bodies readily con- 
duct sound ; while others arrest it, or are non-con- 
ductors. The same distinction holds in regard to 
electricity. It has even been proved by Becquerel 
that some compounds may be decomposed by sound, 
just as all can be by electricity. 

Electricity produces heat and light of the greatest 
known intensity, and is readily converted into mag- 
netism ; and, lastly, it produces chemical affinity, 
organizing and disorganizing in so powerful and del- 
icate a manner as to be the most serviceable of 
chemical agents. 

63. Light. 

Light is the most intricate and least defined of 
the imponderables or forces. So incalculably ex- 
tended and intricate are its relations, that, in its 
chemical activity, it is difficult, or, rather, impossi- 
ble, to determine where its action leaves off, and 
that of chemical affinity begins. In its optical rela- 
tions, it follows determinate, mathematical laws. Re- 
fraction, reflection, polarization, and absorption are 
precisely like similar phenomena of rays of heat. 
Conduction of heat, and transmission of light, are 
similar. Heat intensifies chemical affinity ; but 
light is essential to a great majority of chemical 
actions. 

64. Analogy to Sound, v 

Light and sound present many striking analogies. 
They progress in straight lines. When they meet 



Matter and Force. 105 

an impenetrable body, they are reflected in the 
same manner. When they pass into a medium of 
different density, they are alike refracted ; and, 
lastly, sound can be polarized in a similar manner 
to light. 

Light acts as a chemical force. Its power to change 
the salts of silver is shown in the beautiful art of 
photography. 

65. Magnetism. 

Magnetism can be produced by, and can produce, 
electricity ; and electricity produces heat, light, and 
chemical affinity. Perhaps one of its most curious 
effects is its disturbance of rays of light or heat 
when passing its influence. A ray of polarized light 
can be made to swerve from its course by the at- 
traction of a magnet. The direction of chemical 
force is in like manner effected. 



66. Affinity. 

The attraction of atoms is called chemical affin- 
ity ; that of masses, gravitation. Wonderful are the 
effects produced by this force, many times inexpli- 
cable. If electricity produces it, it is the inexhaustible 
fount of electricity. All the various forms of bat- 
teries depend on chemical action ; and, could the 
electricity generated by combustion of coal or wood 
be secured, it would afford a power incalculably 
greater than that of the engine in the furnaces of 
which they are consumed. 



io6 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

67. Quantity of Electricity. 

The amount of electricity depends invariably on 
the amount of chemical action. If the electric cur- 
rent be employed to decompose a fluid, as water, it 
will be found that precisely the same amount of 
oxygen unites with the zinc in the battery as is set 
free at the terminal, or pole in the fluid ; and the 
quantities of hydrogen are equal. If different fluids 
are acted on from those in the battery, then the 
relations of the element united with the zinc, and 
set free in the fluid, are as their equivalents. Thus 
if hydrochloric acid be placed in the battery, and 
the poles be immersed in water, for every thirty-six 
parts by weight of chlorine united with the zinc, 
.eight parts of oxygen would be liberated from the 
water ; for such are their combining weights or 
equivalents. 

68. Heat. 

Chemical affinity never occurs without evolving 
heat. It is the source of all our artificial heat and 
light. The flame of a candle or of gas, the heat of 
the grate, comes from the clashing particles uniting 
in new gaseous compounds. The relations of heat, 
light, electricity, magnetism, and chemical affinity 
are thus intimate ; and they are all resolvable into 
motion, and can all be evolved from motion. When- 
ever any of them produce motion, they lose precisely 
so much of their individual characteristics as there 
is motion produced. 



* 



Matter and Force. 107 

69. Theories. 

It is indifferent what theory we advocate, — the 
theory of vibrations in an ether, or of matter itself, 
or of emission : this inter-relation, or correlation and 
conservation, holds good of one as well as the other. 

Force is as indestructible as matter ; and the im- 
ponderables are only various manifestations of force. 
The present tendency of scientific thought is to- 
wards the theory of vibrations of matter itself, and 
perhaps the weight of argument is on that side : but 
it fails to explain many phenomena ; and the action 
of gravitation across planetary spaces calls to aid, if 
not a universal ether, something very similar. The 
theory of emission has been discarded long since. 
The " imponderables ' must be regarded as forces, 
not as matter. As there is so much matter in the 
universe, and not a particle can be lost or destroyed, 
there is so much force, and not the sufficiency to 
float a down on the wind can be created or de- 
stroyed. 

This resolution of " imponderables ' into motion 
solves some of the greatest cosmical problems. Mo- 
tion being an indestructible attribute of matter, the 
revolution of worlds falls into its province. The 
original heat which once diffused the planetary bod- 
ies as vapor through space calls for no other expla- 
nation than is furnished by conservation of force. 

When the exact numerical relation of heat and 
motion is determined, the calculation is very simple 
to ascertain how much heat the velocity of a plane- 



108 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

tary body represents. The moment the particles of 
cosmical vapor met and united, — in other words, 
condensation began, — heat was generated. It was 
the great obstacle in the way of condensation. From 
the amount of heat represented by the present mo- 
tion of the earth, the degree of heat of the original 
chaos can be determined. It is found that only the 
four hundred and fifty-fourth of the original force 
remains ; but if this remainder were converted into 
heat, as it would be if the planets were all to fall 
into the sun, and the whole system suddenly be 
brought to rest, it would raise the temperature of 
the entire mass to twenty-eight million degrees cen- 
tigrade, or fifty million degrees Fahrenheit. When 
we consider that the highest temperature we are 
capable of attaining is by the oxhydrogen blow-pipe, 
and that this does not exceed three thousand six 
hundred degrees Fahrenheit, but is sufficient to not 
only melt, but vaporize, platinum, the most infusible 
of metals, we can at once learn the incomprehen- 
sibleness of fifty million degrees, or more than 
thirteen thousand times that number. If the entire 
mass of the system were pure coal, and at once lit up 
in terrific combustion, only the thirty-five hundredth 
part of this heat would be generated. 

A simple calculation affords us a view of the 
result if the earth were suddenly stopped in its 
orbit. The momentum of a ponderous ball, eight 
thousand miles in diameter, hurled sixty-eight thou- 
sand miles an hour, is at once converted into heat. 
A rifle-ball arrested becomes too warm to touch. 



Matter and Force. 109 

The earth is raised to sixteen thousand five hundred 
and sixty degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature suffi- 
cient to convert its most obdurate minerals into 
vapor, into a vast cometary chaos. If arrested, it 
would fall into the sun ; and the degree of heat 
developed by such a catastrophe would be four hun- 
dred times greater, or six million six hundred and 
twenty-four thousand degrees Fahrenheit. 

70. The Sun the Fountain of Life. 

The heat of the sun's surface — the great perpet- 
ual fountain of life — has been estimated, from what 
appear to be correct data, to be from seven thou- 
sand to fifteen thousand times greater than the 
oxhydrogen blow-pipe. This incomprehensible tem- 
perature is maintained invariably, and an immense 
flood of light and heat radiated into space. Meet- 
ing the surface of the planets, it warms, enlightens, 
and sets at work the processes of life. It is the 
origin of living beings, who derive from its exhila- 
rating rays all their motion, or living force, which 
stands directly correlated to sunlight and heat. 

We are all children of the sun, from the humblest 
worm to the divinest man. All are storehouses of 
these forces, which can be at any time called forth. 
When wood is burned, it is not newly created heat 
we produce, but the light and warmth of the sun 
exerted in building up the cells of the wood. 

A diamond shines in the dark, after exposure to 
the sun's rays, from the absorption of those rays. 



no Arcana of Spirifoialism. 

Wonderful thought ! when we burn the dark and 
shining coal, we set at liberty the sunlight and sun- 
heat treasured up by plants in the dark age of myth- 
ically gigantic vegetation flourishing in the marshes 
of the coal period ! We create nothing. The coal is 
simply a treasury of the heat and light of the sun. 

71. Beautiful is this Circle of Transforma- 
tion. 

The heat of the sun builds up a plant. It is a 
storehouse of these forces to the animal that eats 
and digests it. The original heat is liberated by the 
chemical action in its system ; and it is warmed 
thereby, and tremendous muscular power derived. 
The same chemical processes occur when wood is 
burned in the furnace of an engine. The treasured 
heat is reconverted to the original motion of the 
chaos of the beginning. Thus the force of the ani- 
mal frame and of the engine are reproductions of 
the primal forces of the planetary bodies. 

72. The Realm of Life. 

Ascending in this generalization, we inquire if 
this correlation holds in the realm of life ; if the 
aggregate motions we call life may not be trans- 
formations of the terrible forces of nature. 

73. Wonderful are the Motions of Living 

Beings ; 

So mysterious, they seem to spring directly from 
the will, and at once to be connected with a forbid- 



Matter and Force. 1 1 1 

den domain lying outside of matter. But careful 
study finds that the circulation of the fluids in the 
animal frame, and the motions of their organs, dif- 
fers not from the motion observed in the cascade, 
the rush of winds, or the orbs of space. Motion 
cannot be produced without the consumption of 
force. A pound of carbon in the furnace yields 
a certain amount of power. 

74. Force and Chemical Change. 

Chemical decomposition yields, according to con- 
ditions, electricity, light, heat, magnetism, or mo- 
tion. 

75. Vegetative Life is purely of Growth: 
Animal Life expends itself in resistance 
to External Agencies. 

Thus, in plants, a certain amount of the force 
derived from their food is employed in resisting 
the causes of decay ; but the balance is entirely 
used in growth. The materials of which they are 
composed are of so fixed a character that little force 
is consumed in opposing their oxidization. We see 
however, in the compounds forming the flower and 
fruit, an instability held in equilibrium only by a 
strong effort, and which invariably exhausts the 
vitality of the plant. As soon as the connection 
of fruit or flower ceases with the parent stem, 
vitality no longer resists, and decay at once com- 
mences. 



112 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

■ 

76. New Direction in Animals. 

In animals, the forces of the system are also used 
in growth, but another direction is given to them. 
The animal has a nervous system, which the plant 
has not, by which its various parts are brought in 
unison. In both is observed what has been called 
vital force. 

What is this vital force ? Consider an organized 
being. It is a representative of all the forces and 
conditions which have ever acted on it, or on its 
remotest ancestors. It is the concrete expression 
of all these. In it, these forces have acquired a 
momentum. They are not wholly dependent on ex- 
ternal circumstances, but are able to re-act on sur- 
rounding conditions. The sum of forces thus indi- 
vidualized, the momentum of force thus represented, 
is what is called vitality. Whatever power a being 
gains from its food or otherwise, not expended, is so 
much gained by vitality. 

It is not an original force imported from ances- 
tors, which weakens as it departs from the parent 
stock, as has been argued. This is refuted by the 
propagation of plants by cuttings, or the embryonic 
growth of animals. The bud or the sperm-cell can 
only give direction to the causes of growth, which 
yield vitality as the surplus of the force extracted 
from the sustaining material. 

77. Use of the Nerves. 

By means of the nerves, all the organs of the 
body are brought into harmony. They are the con- 



Matter and Force. 1 1 3 

ducting wires by which the forces generated in the 
system are kept in equilibrium. Where they do not 
exist, there is no motion. They convey the excess 
of force existing in one organ to another when it is 
deficient, or to organs which do not generate the 
force which they need. 

As force cannot be created nor destroyed, its 
manifestations depend on chemical changes within 
the organism. This is true of the force used in the 
voluntary and involuntary motions of the body. 
Even the movement of a finger, or the exhalation 
of a breath, necessitates consumption of material in 
the body. That is, every motion requires force, 
which is derived from some of the component par- 
ticles of the organism entering into new combi- 
nations, and thereby becoming effete, and rejected 
by the system. They cannot be used a second 
time. 

The vital force stands in direct relation to chemi- 
cal force, or, in other words, to the amount of de- 
structions of tissues. It is precisely parallel to the 
results obtained by a galvanic battery. An atom of 
acid unites with an atom of zinc : the attached wire 
transmits force by which we can separate the most 
firmly united compounds, produce light, heat, or 
magnetic force ; but we can never obtain any more 
force than that afforded by the original attraction of 
the atom of acid and zinc. 

Thus it is that force is derived from the oxidation 
effected in the body, which must be proportional to 
the material consumed. In fevers, where the waste 

8 



H4 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

is great, the production of heat is correlated with 
motion. 

78. Oxygen the Creator and Destroyer. 

The oxygen of the atmosphere that bathes us 
constantly is the natural agent of change, which, 
while it stimulates the living organism, seizes its 
particles at death, and hurries them to swift decay. 
It is only because the organs exposed to its ac- 
tion constantly present substances for which it has 
a greater affinity that they are preserved. Thus the 
living lung has as much attraction for oxygen as 
the dead ; but it presents, spread through its count- 
less capillaries, the blood, for which oxygen has a 
greater attraction. It is thus controlled by vitality. 
The same may be said of the mucous membrane 
and gellatinous and cellular tissues : they readily 
combine with oxygen, and are protected by the sub- 
stances they present to take up oxygen. In case 
where such substances cannot be presented, as in 
starving, they yield at once to the action of oxygen. 

79. Compensation. 

There is absolute compensation in the organic 
system. It has a certain amount of force, which, if 
used in one direction, cannot be in another. If the 
involuntary motions are increased, the voluntary are 
weakened ; if the voluntary are violently overtasked, 
the involuntary are weakened, sometimes to such an 
extent, that, no force being left to carry on the vital 
processes, death results. 



Matter and Force. 115 

The force which in plants is applied to unlimited 
growth is employed by animals in motion. This is 
effected through and by the muscles. Muscular 
growth does not imply the exertion of force : for 
the conversion of blood into muscle is only a change 
of form, their composition being the same ; and 
change of form does not require expenditure of 
force, only proper condition. 

80. Correlation of Mind. 

Arising to the lofty regions of the intellect, this 
correlation still holds. If man puts forth intellectual 
effort, it is so much force taken from some other 
direction, and is measured by organic change in the 
body. This by no means explains the phenomena 
of mind, as is claimed by the too ardent advocates 
of materialism. If standing alone, it may appear to 
do so ; but, if the evidences of continued existence 
furnished by Spiritualism are sufficient, then a high- 
er correlated power is introduced, and finite man 
must rest on the borders of the infinite. Spiritual 
beings are composed of higher forms of matter ; and 
hence immortality does not present the impossibil- 
ity of forces isolated, and the materialist has no 
room for his objections. 

We have pushed this investigation to its extreme 
limit, and direst conclusions, that we might show 
more vividly how beautifully the ultra-material phi- 
losophy blends with the spiritual, as illustrated in 
the succeeding chapters. 



V. 



PHYSICAL MATTER AND SPIRIT. 

Matter and force are inseparable. We know nothing of force except 
through matter, and nothing of matter except by its forces. — Youmans. 

8 i. The Old Problem. 

PHILOSOPHERS, from the earliest times, have 
attempted the solution of the question, if the 
substances with which our senses are brought in 
contact are capable of an indefinite division, or 
whether a point is reached — the ultimate molecule 
— where division can go no farther. No arguments 
can reach, nor experiments solve, the problem ; and, 
from the idle conjectures of Democritus and Leu- 
cippus to the experimental researches of Wollaston 
and Faraday, there is no advancement except in the 
form of the investigation. 

Matter, infinite space, and infinite duration, are 
the elements of creation. That space and time are 
infinite, we pause not to prove. The eternity of 
matter requires consideration. We have no proof 
to the contrary. That it is not is an assumption, 
and the affirmer must first produce evidence. Our 
senses never yielded us knowledge of the creation 
or extinction of matter. All the deductions of sci- 
ence are based on its eternity. We see it change 



Physical Matter and Spirit. 117 

form, — it becomes solid, liquid, or gaseous, but 
never diminishes in quantity. The candle burns, 
yielding light ; it is consumed, apparently destroyed : 
as a candle, it exists not ; but, as gaseous products 
floating in the air, every atom remains, and, if sub- 
jected to the test of the balance, would exactly 
poise the candle. So of the coal and wood in our 
grates : it is destroyed as coal and wood, but not 
as matter. 

82. Eternity of Matter. 

We cannot imagine either the extinction or the 
beginning of matter. We contemplate nature, not 
as having beginning nor end, but as an infinite se- 
ries, a few of whose members only are brought be- 
fore us. It stretches before us like an endless way, 
up and -down which we can travel, but never to 
either termination ; and having no data, nothing 
positive, we cannot judge whether the path has or 
has not termination. So far as we know, it has not. 
Here is an end to all speculation ; and, until some- 
thing more than the idle conceits of men are pro- 
duced, we are obliged to rest content with the ap- 
parent eternity of matter. I say apparent, because 
such are the teachings of our senses. Forms perish 
with appalling rapidity ; death vying with life, and 
resurrection triumphing again and again over the 
power of dissolution : yet the atoms of which all 
these countless swarms of existences are formed 
remain unchanged. Compared with the fleeting 
existence of animated nature, or even with the 



1 1 8 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

durations of the worlds of space, which grow old 
and are absorbed, matter is eternal. So let it rest 
until proof to the contrary is produced. I disturb 
not its repose. Nothing in sacred volumes, more 
than in the walks of nature, contradicts our conclu- 
sion. Nowhere do they teach that God created 
matter. 

83. What is Matter? 

It is an aggregation of atoms. What is an atom ? 
It is the type of the universe ; for in it are concen- 
trated all the laws and principles in nature. Is it a 
real, tangible existence ? or is it, as taught by some 
philosophers, a mathematical point, from which, as a 
centre, forces are manifested ? This question is dif- 
ficult to decide ; and in this, as in all others, we are 
compelled to fall back on the evidences of the 
senses, and, until the production of proof, abide 
their decision. It is difficult to conceive of the 
propagation of force from a mathematical point, or 
rather a centre, where nothing exists. It is wide of 
the spirit of our system of philosophy, which refers 
all productions of force to matter. It is, at most, 
but a flight of imagination ; but, let it be decided as 
it will, force must be referred to the atom, — to 
matter. The atom exists because this force is 
present. The force is a part of the atom. In 
other words, and as a general expression, the at- 
tributes of matter are co-existent and co-eternal 
with it. 



Physical Matter and Spirit. 1 1 9 

84. Definitions. 

By attributes, I mean direct manifestations of 
the primary force into which the phenomena of the 
atom are resolvable. 

Principles are combinations of these. 

Properties are primary results. 

All of these are the means by which the exist- 
ence of matter is manifested to our senses ; and 
without them we could not conceive of its existence. 
I have neither space nor inclination to enter into 
a metaphysical discussion of this question. I refer 
to this plain statement. 

85. An Atom without Attributes. 

How could the atom exist without extension and 
attraction and corresponding repulsion ? Vigorous, 
indeed, must be the imagination which can build a 
world of such atoms. Robbed of its attributes, the 
atom has no tangible existence. Here, resting our 
deduction on the basis of facts, the testimony of 
sense, we conclude that the atom, and the forces 
which it manifests, are co-eternal, co-existent. Their 
relations we cannot conjecture. 

86. Resolution of Phenomena. 

All the phenomena presented by matter appear 
to be resolvable into the forces of attraction and 
repulsion. This is opposed to the received idea, 
that 'inertia is its characteristic. Matter is sup- 



120 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

posed to have no internal force. If it is not acted 
upon from without, it remains forever at rest. If it 
is possible for matter thus to remain, we never see it 
in such a condition. A post planted by the road- 
side is at rest compared with the objects around it ; 
but it is not really at rest ; for, not to mention the 
internal changes in its structure by which it shortly 
is reduced to dust, each day it makes the circuit 
of the globe, and yearly journeys around the sun. 
Does the globe move, and compel it to move ? 
What moves the globe ? Ah ! now we arrive at 
the end. Every atom the globe contains exerts its 
influence, and their combined force is the motion of 
the globe. 

87. The Atom. 

To the microscope, the finest powder to which a 
substance can be reduced presents all the aspects 
of the entire body. Gold may be hammered so thin 
that one grain will cover fourteen hundred square 
inches. A microscope can detect the gold on the 
thousandth part of a linear inch ; so that gold may 
at least be divided into particles a fourteen hundred 
millionth of a square inch in size, and still retain 
its character. Coloring substances, such^s indigo, 
show an almost incomprehensible divisibility. A 
single drop of strong indigo in solution can be 
shown to contain at least five hundred thousand 
distinctly visible portions, and will color a thousand 
cubic inches of water. As this mass of water is at 
least five hundred thousand times larger than the 



Physical Matter and Spirit. 121 

drop, it is certain that a particle of indigo must be 
smaller than the twenty-five hundred billionth part 
of an inch. A fragment of silver a hundredth of an 
inch in size, when dissolved in nitric acid, will ren- 
der distinctly milky five hundred cubic inches of 
common salt. Hence the size of a particle of silver 
thus dissolved must be less than a billionth of a cu- 
bic inch. The attenuation presented by solutions are 
far exceeded by the complex beings revealed by the 
microscope. Atomies are revealed no larger than 
the particles of dissolved indigo, living, moving, 
having organs of prehension, digestion, and assim- 
ilation, and a circulating fluid or blood, with glob- 
ules bearing the same comparative size to them as 
ours do to us. 

Millions of these beings heaped together would 
be scarcely perceptible to the unassisted eye. Ev- 
ery advance made in the perfection of the micro- 
scope reveals grades of animalculae hitherto unseen ; 
and these feed on still more minute forms. These 
examples only show the possible division, but do 
not touch the question of infinite divisibility. The 
definite extension of the atmosphere, showing the 
limitation of the repulsion existing between its gas- 
eous atoms, appears to settle- the question ; for, it 
is argued, were the particles infinitely divisible, 
their repulsion would be infinite. This conclusion 
is not inevitable ; and doubts have also been cast 
on the determination of the limits of the atmos- 
phere. 



122 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

88. The Chemical Atom. 

The chemical atom may be regarded as formed by 
a group of smaller particles ; and the number uniting 
to form a group is what we call the combining num- 
ber: but this is conjectural. There then remains but 
one theory ; and that is the one advanced by Bos- 
covitch, or some one of the modifications of which 
it is susceptible. We must confess that we know of 
force ; but, of matter, we know nothing. What we 
call matter — that which we see, feel, taste; which 
manifests gravity, impenetration, &c. — is not mat- 
ter, but the forces which surround and conceal some- 
thing beyond. This something lies beyond our ken ; 
and all we know of it we learn from its phenomena. 
It is difficult for the mind to grasp the idea of sub- 
stance without atoms, and there is a necessity of 
employing the term ; yet all we know of it may be 
expressed by a centre radiating force. Whether that 
centre is a mathematical point, or occupied by a 
determinate atom, we cannot ascertain ; though the 
latter inference's most consonant with the finiteness 
of our minds. This point, this something, around 
which the forces of the universe cluster, and from 
which they radiate, is called an atom. It is unbeat- 
able and indestructible. On this basis, all positive 
science rests ; and, without it, its inferences would 
be wholly unreliable. It may change its form, from 
solid to liquid, from liquid to gas ; it may be ap- 
parently dissipated, as wood in a grate, as food in 
the animal body : but it always re-appears. The 



Physical Matter and Spirit. 123 

atom is eternal, whether a particle, or a centre 
of force. 

There is a great difference between the theory of 
atoms and the theory of forces. The former ex- 
plains, satisfactorily, but few phenomena ; while the 
latter adjusts itself to all. Certain inferences sug- 
gest themselves, when the latter is received, which 
generalize the most diverse phenomena. 

89. Doctrine of Impenetrability false. 

The facts presented by the combinations of potas- 
sium and sodium overthrow the long-held statement 
that matter is impenetrable. The mutual diffusion 
of gases, the contraction in bulk of liquids when 
employed as solvents, confirm the idea that matter 
is highly penetrable. If the component atoms are 
considered as widely separated, we may consider 
foreign atoms as introduced in the interspaces, and 
affording no proof of penetration. But we cannot, 
from the foregoing facts, consider such to be a cor- 
rect view of the constitution of matter. As space 
cannot be a conductor and a non-conductor, there 
must exist some bond of union between the particles 
so remotely situated. Take the theory that an 
atom is a centre of force, it occupies all the space 
over which its force is propagated. When aggre- 
gated into masses, they fill all the area of the sub- 
stance. The influence of force, which is all we 
know of matter, must extend to infinite distance. 
Matter, thus considered, fills all space ; for all space 



124 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

is filled with the gravitation of atoms, and gravity is 
a constituent part of matter. Suns and worlds are 
but central condensations rotating in the midst of 
matter. Every atom, while it constantly retains its 
own individuality, extends throughout all space, 
penetrating and being penetrated by all others. 

90. Form of the Atom. 

The shape of the primary atom, so often conjec- 
tured, and conceived in the manner one would fancy 
the outline of a mathematical point, becomes clearly 
defined. Its form depends on the manner in which 
the force is propagated from the centre. If by con- 
secutive waves, it assumes the powers of a sphere ; 
if with greater strength in the direction of an axis, 
of an oblate spheroid ; if it circulate around the axis 
in the manner electric currents are supposed to do 
around a magnet, polarity may be manifested. Its 
form would depend on the disposition of force. 

91. Atom a Centre of Force. 

When two atoms having affinity, as an atom of 
metal and an atom of oxygen, unite, the Newtonian 
theory regards them as simply arranged side by side 
in a manner easily conceived, and often forcibly rep- 
resented ; but why such a union radically changes 
the properties of the constituent elements, why an 
atom of acid uniting with an atom of alkali pro- 
duces a neutral substance, is not explained. On the 
other hand, if an atom be regarded as a centre of 



Physical Matter and Spirit. 125 

force, when two unite, they mutually penetrate to 
the very centres of each other, forming one mole- 
cule with powers determined by the new combina- 
tion of forces. The manner in which two or more 
atoms unite or separate under the influence of 
stronger forces, may be illustrated by the union of 
sea-waves, and their subsequent separation into the 
original waves. 

92. IS THERE SUCH AN ENTITY AS SPACE PENE- 
TRATING the Pores of all Substances ? 

It is difficult to understand its want of properties ; 
more difficult to understand those which it appar- 
ently possesses. If we consider matter as an objec- 
tive substance acted on by forces, then the atoms of 
gas, fluid, or solid, cannot touch each other, but are 
separated by intervals of space. Space penetrates 
all substances with a fine network of cells. The 
component atoms of a body have been likened, by 
these atomic philosophers, to the stars scattered in 
the vaults of the sky, being comparatively equally 
far removed from each other. There can be nothing 
continuous in the universe but space. Every sub- 
stance must be broken and limited. How does this 
agree with the conducting and non-conducting prop- 
erties of bodies ? A stick of shellac, penetrated by 
space, and having its particles far asunder, is an 
insulator. If space was a conductor, it could not 
be ; for there could be no such thing as insulation. 
Hence space is an insulator. A pile of loose, dry 



126 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

sand is a non-conductor ; but fill its pores with water, 
and the mass becomes continuous and a conductor. 
In the same manner, if space were a conductor, 
penetrating all bodies, not the least insulation could 
be effected. 

Conducting bodies have their atoms widely re- 
moved from each other, and are penetrated by space. 
If space is a .non-conductor, these atoms are in the 
condition of metallic dust stirred into melted resin. 
As each particle is surrounded by an insulating film 
of resin, the mass is a non-conductor ; so, each atom 
being enveloped in non-conducting space, the mass 
becomes a non-conductor. Hence, as space is the 
only continuous portion of bodies, it must be a con- 
ductor. 

But it cannot be both a conductor and a non-con- 
ductor. According to the atomic theory, if the spe- 
cific gravity of the metals be divided by their atomic 
numbers, the result is the number of atoms in equal 
bulk of the metals. It would be presumable that the 
metals containing the largest number of atoms — 
that is, having atoms nearest together — would have 
the greatest conducting power. This is not, how- 
ever, the fact. Iron, containing nearly three times 
the number of atoms of gold, is only one-sixth as 
good a conductor. Copper, containing nearly the 
same number of atoms, is a sixfold better conduc- 
tor ; being nearly equal to gold, the best of all metals, 
although containing the fewest atoms. Silver, hav- 
ing the same number as gold, is only three-fourths 
as good a conductor. The results are reversed in 



Physical Matter and Spirit. 127 

lead, which contains almost the same number of 
atoms as gold, but is only one-twelfth as good a 
conductor. 

These facts are very perplexing, and difficult to 
harmonize with the atomic theory ; and the difficulty 
is augmented by those presented by the alkalies and 
their compounds. As an example, take potassium, 
the metallic base of potash. We shall find, by com- 
parison of its specific gravity and atomic weight 
with that of its hydrate, that the same bulk of metal 
potassium containing forty-five atoms will contain 
seventy atoms of the metal, and two hundred and 
ten atoms of oxygen and hydrogen. In other words, 
the same space which contains four hundred and 
thirty atoms of potassium, when that metal unites 
with two thousand one hundred atoms of oxygen 
and hydrogen, can not only contain them, but two 
hundred more atoms of potassium. So it is possible 
that a piece of potassium contains less potassium 
than an equal part of potash formed by its union 
with oxygen and hydrogen. If the bulk occupied 
by the atoms of potassium can contain not only 
two-thirds more atoms of potassium, but nearly five 
times as many atoms of oxygen and hydrogen, its 
atoms must be very wide apart, occupying, consid- 
ering the compounds thus produced as absolutely 
solid, but one-sixth of the area. That potassium is 
a conductor, implies that this intervening space is a 
conductor, which it is not. Other compounds show 
similar results. Thus the volume containing five 
hundred and thirty atoms, of metal potassium will, 



128 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

in the state of nitre, contain four hundred and six- 
teen atoms, and two thousand nine hundred and 
twelve atoms of nitrogen ; and, as carbonate, the 
volume of four hundred and thirty atoms will con- 
tain two hundred and fifty-six more atoms, and two 
thousand seven hundred and forty-four atoms of 
oxygen and carbon, or three thousand four hundred 
and thirty atoms. 

In adding water to sulphuric acid, and in most 
solutions of salts, there is contraction of bulk. 
There is not only penetration, but a clear space 
formed by penetration. It is thus evident that the 
impenetrability of matter must be discarded. 

If atoms are so remote from each other, it is easy 
to account for the entrance of other atoms between 
them. It is also evident that little is known of the 
atom. The equivalent number, which chemists con- 
sider as expressive of the number of atoms, cannot 
express that fact, but rather the relative cohesive 
attraction, or weight of the atom, 

93. Change of Properties. 

Having received these views, it is easy to under- 
stand why such radical changes in properties occur 
by the union of different elements. The compound 
atom, as long as the conditions of its creation hold, 
is in every respect a new element. No one would 
infer beforehand, that the union of the intense alkali, 
caustic potash, with the powerful acid, sulphuric, 
would produce a salt having the properties of 



Physical Matter and Spirit. 129 

neither. The union of potash with nitric acid yields 
nitre, or saltpetre ; of sodium, a beautiful metal, 
with poisonous chlorine, common salt, on which life 
and health depend. How can we suppose such 
changes to occur by the placing of particles side 
by side ? Very simply, if these particles penetrate 
each other, and for the time become one, with prop- 
erties produced by the sum of the forces of both. 

94. Objections. 

It will be said that the impenetrability of matter 
is demonstrated by the senses, and has been held as 
an axiom in natural philosophy. " Whatever occu- 
pies space, and is revealed to the senses, is termed 
matter." A bar of iron is felt by the hand, and is 
impenetrable to it. It is seen by the eye because 
it reflects light ; it has w r eight ; we say that it is 
absolutely impenetrable. This is only true when 
affirmed in. respect to the human body. It may be 
very penetrable to other substances. Beneath the 
elements known to the senses may he an innumer- 
able number of other elements, not recognized by 
the senses, because not holding the proper relations 
to them. 

95. We thus learn that the Atom is of little 
Moment : the Forces which emanate there- 
from are the Essentials. 

Whether we regard it as a particle, or as a centre 
of force, changes not the result. If a particle, we 
9 



130 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

can never know anything of it except by means of 
the attributes or forces flowing from it. We never 
see, feel, hear, taste, nor touch matter : it is its 
properties and its atmosphere which affects us. All 
visible effects are produced by invisible causes. Co- 
hesion, which unites atoms into solid masses, or grav- 
itation, chaining world to world, does not result from 
external pressure, but internal force. All the forces 
of nature act from within outward. The most ma- 
terialistic philosophers admit this ; and, in the study 
of nature, questions of force " are becoming more 
and more prominent. The things to be explained are 
changes, active effects, motions in ordinary matter, 
not as acted upon, but as in itself inherently active. 
The chief use of atoms is to serve as points, or vehi- 
cles of motion. Thus the study of matter resolves 
itself into the study of forces. Inert objects, as they 
appear to the eye of sense, are replaced by activities 
revealed to the eye of intellect. The conceptions 
of 'gross/ ' corrupt ' 'brute matter ' are passing away 
with the prejudices of the past ; and, in place of a 
dead, material world, we have a living organism of 
spiritual energies." 

This is the highest ground taken by philosophers 
at present ; and, while they congratulate themselves 
on their Positivism, they really are entering the ves- 
tibule of Spiritualism. 

When the mind is freed from the ideas created by 
the senses of physical matter, and, with intellectual 
vision, understands that what it calls fixed and un- 
changeable are fleeting shadows of unseen, spiritual 



Physical Matter and Spirit. 131 

energies, it is ready to comprehend how this force 
can be immortalized in specialized forms and spirit- 
ual beings. 

96. Perfection of Man. 

The rudiments of the organs of sense appear low 
down in the scale of being. If we receive the 
theory that living beings were created by the forces 
of matter, and not for them, it is probable that 
there is a sense for every order of manifestation of 
which matter is susceptible. In man, all the organs, 
of which rudimentary indications are given in the 
lower order of beings, are perfected ; and we have 
thus a right to suppose him to be susceptible to 
every sensation matter is capable of imparting. 
Were it otherwise, he would possess some rudi- 
mentary sense for future ages to perfect. Sight, 
hearing, taste, touch, are all as perfect in animals as 
in man, and, in many, even more perfect ; but he 
surpasses them in nervous sensibility, — a faculty 
dimly seen in the animal world, and reaching to 
the spirit realm. 

This may almost be called a new sense, and must 
be regarded as still rudimentary. A dim shadow of 
its capabilities is revealed by the clairvoyant. In 
its direction more than in any other, are we to 
expect progress. Through it, matter reaches up to 
spirit ; and, by it, we learn the laws of that mystic 
realm.* 

* I here cannot refrain from alluding to the corroboration 
of the principles laid down in the first volume of the " Arcana, 



132 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

of Nature." When it was written, years ago (1858), I searched 
in vain for the least scientific testimony confirming its state- 
ment of principles. I was impressed that there were per- 
sons in Europe holding nearly the same views, but could not 
procure their works. I wrote as impressed, with faith in the 
utterance of the controlling power : " The power which wafts 
suns and worlds on their orbits must reside in themselves." 
" Motion belongs to the atom." " Motion is ever the same, 
directed in different channels, and fulfilling different missions, 
nevertheless the same." "Life is born of motion" (p. 20). 
" Life, then, is the specialization of the living principles of 
matter." And it is there held that intelligence is specialized 
through life from the intelligence organizing creation. The 
theological press sent up one long hiss : the most dignified 
of its journals said it was good pantheism. Now, as I write, 
this very doctrine, that matter is nothing but force (being, in 
its various manifestations, but a modification of motion), is 
everything, is scientific orthodoxy. In the "Arcana," it is 
stated that there is no inertia. The statement was ridiculed ; 
but, now, the idea of " inert, brute matter " has passed away, 
and many works have appeared, extending over the whole 
ground, from physical motion to intelligence. (See compila- 
tion by Youmans of the essays of Joule, Mayer, Helmholtz, 
Carpenter, and Faraday, — " The Correlation and Conserva- 
tion of the Physical Forces.") 

It is notable that the first volume of the "Arcana," hav- 
ing been translated into German, should be repeatedly quoted 
by the learned and fearless Buchner, in his work on " Mat- 
ter and Force," in proof of Materialism. 



VI. 



SPIRITUAL ATMOSPHERE OF THE UNIVERSE. 

An atmosphere more sublimate than air 
Pervades all matter, be it here or there : 
No finite power its wrappings can disperse ; 
For its thin billows lave the universe, — 
Each portion linking to all other parts, 
Whether stars, blossoms, or responding hearts 

Emma Tuttle. 

97. The Instrument employed in Investiga- 
tion. 

AS the investigator reaches the threshold of the 
domain of spirit, he meets phenomena protean 
in form and expression, but having a common family 
type. The object of the present chapter is to at- 
tempt, from observed facts, a generalization which 
shall unite the strangely diverse phenomena of im- 
pressibility. In the study of this subject, we have a 
perfect instrument ready formed for our purpose, — 
the sensitive brain. Through its impressibility we 
become cognizant of spiritual forces, and, by its aid, 
are enabled to enter the secret courts of the spirit. 

98. The Impressibility of the Brain. 

- The faculties of man may be usually traced in 
rudimentary form in the lower animals ; and the 



134 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

impressibility of his nervous system forms no ex- 
ception. Its presence can be seen in the lowest 
zoophytes or plant-animals. They seek the darkest 
places, and shrink from the influence of the light. 
This is the only sense they manifest. It is pos- 
sessed by all animals ; but the experiments of Spal- 
lanzani on bats show that they are possessed of 
highly somnambulistic faculties. 

99. Impressibility of Animals. 

" Completely blinded bats were not in the slight- 
est degree obstructed in their motions. They flew 
about by night and by day with their wonted rapid- 
ity, avoiding all obstacles which lay, or were inten- 
tionally placed, in their way, as dexterously as if in 
full possession of their sight. They turned around 
at the right time when they approached a wall, rest- 
ed in a convenient situation when fatigued, and 
struck against nothing. The experiments were mul- 
tiplied, and varied in the most ingenious manner. 
A room was filled with thin twigs ; in another, 
silken threads were suspended from the roof, and 
preserved in the same position at the same distance 
from each other by means of small weights attached 
to them. The bat, though deprived of its eyes, flew 
through the intervals of these threads, as well as of 
the twigs, without touching them ; and, when the 
intervals were too small, it drew its wings more 
closely together. In another room, a net was placed, 
having occasional irregular spaces for the bat to fly 



Spiritual Atmosphere. 135 

through, the net being so arranged as to form a 
small labyrinth ; but the blind bat was not to be 
deceived. In proportion as the difficulties were 
increased, the dexterity of the animal was aug- 
mented. When it flew over the upper extremity of 
the net, and seemed imprisoned between it and the 
wall, it was frequently observed to make its escape 
most dexterously. When fatigued by its high 
flights, it still flew rapidly along the ground, among 
chairs, tables, and sofas, yet avoided touching any- 
thing with its wings. Even in the open air, its 
flight was as prompt, easy, and secure as in a 
close room, and, in both situations, altogether sim- 
ilar to that of its associates who had the use of 
their eyes." 

It is this impressibility that enables animals to 
influence each other, man to influence man, or vice 
versa. That such influences exist, there can be no 
doubt. The few facts I relate are representative of 
volumes which might be collected. The tiger shows 
the faculty of " charming," with the other members 
of the feline family. An interesting instance of its 
exertion is recorded by Lieut.-Col. Davidson. 

" My detachment, after passing through several 
low forests, was one morning encamped at Gorapi- 
char, on a somewhat cleared spot, but still com- 
pletely surrounded by jungle, reputed to be swarm- 
ing with tigers and all other wild animals. I issued 
orders that none of the Europeans should lose sight 
of their tents : but they were all wild lads, desperate 
after sport ; and one of them, named Skelton, walked 



136 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

away from camp, with fusil in hand, and the honor- 
able company's ammunition in his pocket, eager to 
distinguish himself by the death of a tiger. 

" The consequence was, that, had it not been that 
he was soon missed by his comrades, he would un- 
doubtedly have been eaten up by a tiger for his dis- 
obedience of orders. 

" He was reported absent ; and I ordered a strict 
search to be made for him. A party of the Euro- 
peans immediately issued forth, and soon found the 
sportsman, standing, musket in hand, wholly immov- 
able and stupid, eagerly staring at a bush about 
thirty yards in advance. They spoke to him ; but 
he could not answer. They rushed up, and tried to 
rouse him ; but his eyes continued fixed. And then 
they observed the head of a tiger, with his brilliant 
eyes riveted on the intended victim, while his long 
curly tail was gracefully waving over his back in 
fond anticipation of a bloody feast. They shouted ; 
and the tiger speedily vanished. Skelton was con- 
veyed back to his tent ; and so great was the shock 
given to his brain, that many days elapsed before he 
recovered his usual vivacity : and there was no more 
tiger-shooting during the remainder of the march to 
Asseer-Gurh. 

"I was, in the year 1831, executive engineer of 
the province of Bundlecund, and dwelt within the 
forests of Calpee, in a stout, stone building on the 
margin of the precipice, about sixty feet above the 
waters of the ancient river, the Jumna, and w r ithin a 
few yards of that classic spot at which one of the 



Spiritua I A tmo sphere. 137 

incarnations of Crishna made his appearance on 
earth. 

" While within the building, my attention was 
drawn, one morning, to piercing cries of great dis- 
tress, which I knew proceeded from one of that 
beautiful species of squirrel called 'gillairy/ or 
striped Barbary squirrel. I quickly ran to the spot 
whence the sound proceeded, which was at the very 
edge of the precipice, then covered by many stunted 
bushes and trailing plants ; and there I observed the 
gillairy about four or five feet from the bank, leap- 
ing backwards and forwards, with his tail erect, 
upon a slender branch overhanging the river. The 
animal paid no attention whatever to my presence ; 
and I could not, for some time, discover the cause 
of his outcries. On looking more carefully, I ob- 
served the head and about a couple of feet of the 
body of a large snake. The body of the reptile con- 
tinued to undulate in a very gentle manner : but the 
head seemed to be almost on fire, so very brilliant 
were the almost fire-shooting and triumphant eyes, 
that seemed to anticipate his victory over the help- 
less squirrel, which seemed absolutely spell-bound ; 
for it made no effort to escape, which, under any 
other circumstances, it could have done with facil- 
ity, by dropping down on a protruding part of the 
precipice, a few feet below the bough on which it 
traversed. Its cries became more and more urgent 
and piercing ; and, moved by compassion for suffer- 
ing, I shot the serpent. The squirrel's cries instantly 
ceased ; and it dropped down, and disappeared." 



138 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

The influence of this subtle power of animals on 
man has been recorded by the eminent and bold 
Dr. Caldwell. 

" We knew a gentleman, who, in the largest cham- 
ber, covered with a carpet, in the midst of deep 
darkness, could tell if a cat entered it with her 
stealthiest tread, and in perfect silence. Nor could 
he tell in what way, or through which of his exter- 
nal senses, he made the discovery. When interro- 
gated on the subject, his only reply was that he 
experienced a peculiar and disagreeable feeling, 
which told him that there was a cat in the room. 
Nor could he look on one during daylight without 
experiencing a sense of horror/' 

100. Sympathy a Form of Impressibility. 

This sympathy is strongly marked between inti- 
mate friends and relations, and gives the philosophy 
of the old saying, " The Devil is always near when 
you talk about him." Some interesting cases have 
been recorded by Dr. Pratt. 

" A lady residing in my family, an invalid, under 
medical treatment at the time of this occurrence, 
was seized suddenly with what appeared to be an 
apoplectic fit, about two o'clock P. M. The fit con- 
tinued till the next morning, the patient being 
perfectly insensible to all surrounding friends and 
influences : after which she aroused to conscious- 
ness, stating that she had received a severe blow 
upon the forehead, in the region of the organ of 



Spiritual Atmosphere. 139 

benevolence, which had deprived her of her senses ; 
that her head now ached severely ; that she felt 
faint, &c. She had no recollection of the time 
passed in the fit. 

" Three days after this event, the cause of the fit 
was satisfactorily explained to my mind, as follows : 
The lady's 'other half arrived, an invalid, having 
been struck down about two o'clock P. M., three 
days before, by the fall of a tackle-block from a 
mast-head, the blow being on the frontal portion of 
the head, scalping his forehead, and stunning him 
for nearly twelve hours, and rendering his life ex- 
tremely doubtful. 

" Case 2d. A lady with whom I conversed last 
winter, whose husband was an itinerant clergyman, 
informed me that she had repeatedly risen from her 
bed late at night, and prepared for the reception of 
her husband, whom she had no reason to expect 
home at that ■ time, only from vague impressions. 
1 For two years,' said she, ' I have been in the habit 
of doing this ; and I have never once been mistaken 
in my impressions. My husband would often ex- 
claim, " Why, Mary ! what made you think I was 
coming ? ' I could only answer that I thought so.' 

" Case 3D. A gentleman in the State of New 
York, while plowing in the field, was suddenly shot 
through the heart, — at least this was his impres- 
sion. His sensations were such that he could not 
work ; and he put out his team, and returned to the 
house, stating that he believed that his brother, who 
was then a soldier in the Mexican war, had been 



140 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

• 
shot through the heart, or had fallen in battle. 
Two months after that, the news arrived of his 
brother's death in battle, by a ball through the 
chest, occurring on the same day and hour of his 
impression. 

" From these examples it appears that there is 
such a phenomenon in the mental constitution as 
communication between mind and mind, not only 
among friends present, but even sometimes when 
absent, however distant. 

" This is an effect of sympathy. Every one has 
heard, in his own circle, of numerous instances of it. 
I am informed for example, by a lady nearly related 
to me, that her mother always had such a warning 
at the time any near and dear friend died. This 
occurred so often as to leave no doubt whatever of 
the fact. It happened that this lady, more than 
once, made the voyage to and from India ; and 
that, during the voyage, she, on several occasions, 
said to her daughter and to others, ' I feel certain 
that such a person is dead/ On reaching port, 
these impressions were found to be true." 

Referring such astounding phenomena to sympa- 
thy is far from furnishing an explanation. What is 
this sympathy ? It must have a cause ; and from 
its universality and resemblance among all races of 
men, and between every form of animal life, its 
cause must be universal, held in common, binding 
together all these diverse phenomena.* 

* For more extended evidence on this subject, see chapters 
on Spirit. 



Spiritual Atmosphere. 141 

101. Influence of the External World on 

the Nervous System. 

The experiments of Reichenbach not only prove 
the sensitiveness of the nerves, but the kind of 
influence exerted by the inorganic and organic 
worlds. His experiments, instituted with the most 
consummate care, had they been made in an ortho- 
dox channel, would have been considered conclusive. 
The day of his honor is in the future ; for, although 
stumbling in many of his conclusions, the noble 
stand he assumed for the sake of truth is worthy of 
all praise. The results obtained from organic life 
are no less apparent, and confirm his conclusions. 

102. Reichenbach's Experiments. 

The requisite sensitiveness to see and feel the 
magnetic flame in a marked manner seems to ac- 
company diseases of the nervous system. Such is 
the case with most of the subjects introduced by 
Reichenbach in his attempt to establish the fact of 
such influence. It is not, however, wholly depend- 
ent on disease for its manifestation, sometimes be- 
ing possessed by persons enjoying perfect health. 

103. Influence of Magnets. 

The exaltation of nervous sensibility in the daugh- 
ter of the tax-collector, Nowotny, was wonderful. 
" In her, all the exalted intensity of the senses had 



142 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

appeared, so that she could not bear the sun nor 
candle-light ; saw her chamber as in twilight in the 
darkest night, and clearly distinguished the colors 
of all the furniture and clothes in it. On her the 
magnet acted with extraordinary violence, in sev- 
eral ways ; and she manifested the sensitive pecu- 
liarity in all respects in such a high degree that she 
equaled the true somnambulist (which, however, she 
was not) in every particular relating to sensory irri- 
tability. 

" She perceived a distinct luminosity as long as the 
magnet remained open ; but, on placing the arma- 
ture on the poles, the light disappeared. The flame 
seemed to be somewhat stronger at the moment of 
lifting up the armature ; then to acquire a permanent 
condition, which was weaker. The fiery appearance 
was about equal in size at each pole, and without 
perceptible tendency to mutual connection. Close 
upon the steel from which it streamed, it seemed to 
form a fiery vapor ; and this was surrounded by a 
kind of glory of rays. But the rays were not at 
rest : they became shorter and longer without inter- 
mission, and exhibited a kind of darting ray and ac- 
tive scintillation which the observer assured us was 
uncommonly beautiful. The whole appearance was 
more delicate than common fire : the light was far 
purer, almost white like the sun's rays, mingled with 
iridescent colors. The distribution of light in rays 
was not uniform : in the middle of the edges of the 
magnet they were more crowded than at the corners, 
where they formed little tufts." 



Spiritual Atmosphere. 143 

The case of Miss Sturmann, daughter of an inspec- 
tor of farms in Prague, is still more curious. 

" She was suffering from tubercular affection of 
the lungs, and was subject to somnambulism in its 
slighter stages, with attacks of tetanus and catalep- 
tic fits. When I stood in a darkened ward, holding 
a ninety-pound magnet open at a distance of six 
paces from her feet, while she was perfectly con- 
scious of what was going on around her, she ceased 
to answer, and fell into tetanic spasms and complete 
unconsciousness from the influence of the magnet. 
After a while she came to herself again, and said 
that at the moment I had removed the armature she 
had seen a flame flash over it, about the length of 
a small hand, and of a white color, mingled with 
red and blue. She had wished to look at it more 
closely, when she became unconscious from its influ- 



ence." 



104. An Electro-Magnet 

Presents the same appearance as a steel magnet, 
showing that it is really the magnetic force that is 
observed. 

When the poles of an electro-magnet were brought 
near those of a steel, the flames from the latter were 
repelled as by a strong wind. 

Subjected to purely physical tests, the magnetic 
flame is found to be devoid of heat, and, when ap- 
plied to a delicate daguerreotype plate, to yield only 
dubious traces of light. No degree of condensation 
by a lens renders it visible to common eyes. 



144 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

105. Influence of Crystals. 

After many and carefully repeated experiments, 
it is found that natural crystals possess a power 
equal to that of magnets. Amorphous bodies are 
without influence ; but crystalline, with few excep- 
tions, manifest this property. 

" It has never yet been observed, in ponderable 
matter, that the form, the arrangement of the mole- 
cules, can be the cause of new forces acting at a 
distance." — Pouillet in Mullers Physics, 167. 

Reichenbach concludes that the influence of a 
crystal on a sensitive, while the same substance in 
an amorphous state has no influence, contradicts 
this statement. But it does not necessarily. The 
minute crystals of such bodies are opposed one to 
the other, just as if it was formed of minute mag- 
nets indiscriminately aggregated, so that their poles 
would mutually neutralize each other. Remove one 
of these crystals, and indefinitely enlarge it, it is 
then free from neutralizing influences : its force acts 
in certain defined directions, and can be felt. There 
is no new force : it only becomes appreciable. 

A crystal of quartz is a fine substance with which 
to experiment. When drawn down the inside of 
the hand of the subject, it produces the same feeling 
as a magnet. The sensation is like that of a pleas- 
ant, light, cool breeze. When the motion is reversed, 
passing the point of the crystal from the hand 
upward, the sensation becomes 4isagreeable. From 
the many experiments recorded by Baron Reichen- 



Spiritual A tmosphere. 145 

bach, one is selected as an illustration. At the Uni- 
versity Hospital, the experiment was made on Miss 
Sturmann. 

" I made a pass over her hand with the apex of 
a rock-crystal six inches long, and two thick. The 
effect ensued immediately: the patient felt the warm 
and cool sensations very sensibly when the passes 
were made over her hand. When I applied the 
magnet in the same manner, the sensations were of 
the same kind, but weaker and reversed. The 
action was so strong that it affected the whole arm 
as far as the shoulder, the warm and cold sensations 
being prolonged all the way up. When I subse- 
quently applied a crystal three times as large, it 
acted so powerfully upon the hand, immediately 
upon the first pass, that her color came and went 
suddenly, so that I did not venture on a second ex- 
periment with her. . . . Finally I tried the same on 
Miss Maix. On this very sensitive patient — who, 
however, always remained fully conscious — the crys- 
tals acted, not merely on the line of the pass, but 
over a broad strip up and down the hand, which 
action ascended the arm. Miss Reichel, to appear- 
ance a healthy and strong girl, possessed such sen- 
sibility to the crystal pole, that she perceived its 
approach even at a considerable distance. Like her 
predecessors, she found the pass downward cool, 
and upward warm. Lastly, I became acquainted 
with Miss Maria Atzmannsdorfer, and found her to 
feel the pass of the crystals strongest of all. Even 
little crystals of fluor spar, &c., an inch or so long, 



10 



■ 



146 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

produced a sensation of cold when passed down the 
hand. With rather thin, acicular crystals, I could, 
so to speak, describe lines upon the hand ; but the 
pass upward produced warmth of the hand, and so 
adversely upon her that it affected her whole body 
unpleasantly, and began to produce spasms as soon 
as I repeated it." 

These results were tested, not only on cataleptic 
patients, but many prominent physicians, physicists, 
and chemists ; and especially were the results re- 
markable on the naturalist, Prof. Endlicher. 

The peculiar force is exerted in the direction of 
the axis of the crystal ; is strongest at the two poles, 
and of opposite effects, agreeing in this with the 
positive and negative poles of the magnet. 

The force of the crystal, however much it may 
affect the nervous system, is not of a magnetic char- 
acter. The largest and purest crystal of quartz or 
lime will not attract the minutest dust of iron ; has 
no directive tendency, like a magnetic needle, if 
ever so delicately suspended. Nor can it induce 
magnetism in a steel bar, nor influence the polar 
wire when placed in the helix, producing no induced 
current. While the magnet and crystal are alike in 
their effects on the sensitive nerves, the magnet has 
properties which the crystal has not, such as direc- 
tive and attractive qualities, and relations to terres- 
trial magnetism and -electricity. These properties 
stand, in relation to the other force, as light does to 
heat in the burning of a taper. They can be sep- 
arated, so that the magnet would have no directive 



Spiritual Atmosphere. 147 

tendency, but will affect the sensitive ; as the light 
of a taper can be cut off by a screen of certain sub- 
stances, and yet allow the heat to pass unimpeded. 
The crystal is built up by the operation of definite 
chemical forces, but of too low an order to yield 
magnetic force. They act on atoms, magnetism on 
masses ; herein being related to chemical affinity, 
which holds precisely this relation to gravitation. 
It resembles the magfiet in having polarity to sensi- 
tives : it is quantitively different at the two poles. 
Cold is produced at the pole corresponding to the 
— M, and heat at that corresponding to the -J- M. 
The north pole is the stronger. 

If crystals are brought in contact with amorphous 
substances, they impart their power ; and the latter 
produce sensations as crystals do. The influence 
is not permanent, but rapidly disappears. It is 
transmitted through matter in the same manner as 
attraction, no intervening substance producing any 
more effect than air, except a slight retardation. 
Like the force of the crystal, this imparted influence 
is limited, and cannot be indefinitely accumulated. 
In crystals, it increases with their size ; but varies in 
different substances. Thus a small crystal of cobalt 
is more powerful than a large one of quartz ; and the 
influence of the minute crystals of morphine is dis- 
tinctly felt. 

106. Crystallic Flame. 

Of the result of experiments made to determine 
whether crystals yield a visible flame, Reichenbach 
gives a most convincing record. 



148 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

" I instituted an experiment with the heightened 
vision of Miss Sturmann. A room was made as dark 
as possible : she entered, remained some time, till 
her eyes became accustomed to the obscurity, and 
then I placed before her a large watch-crystal. She 
actually at once perceived a flame-like light over it, 
half the size of a hand, blue, passing into white above, 
remarkably different from the magnetic light, which 
she described as much redder and yellower. The 
flame was movable, in a waving and sparkling con- 
dition ; and then a light glare over the support on 
which the crystal rested, of the diameter of almost 
forty inches, just as a magnet had done when flame- 
like appearance and light radiating from it could be 
easily distinguished." Miss Reichel described the 
flames in the same manner. " She said that they 
were of peculiar, star-like forms, which assumed 
different shapes as the crystal was turned. It was 
evidently the crystalline structure of the stone, its 
combination in different directions, which caused 
the production of luminous appearances and inter- 
nal reflections, such as could not of course exist 
in this way in a steel magnet." Is this light con- 
nected with that observed in the crystallization of 
many substances ? Probably it is. It is proved by 
Prof. Rose that crystallization is entirely free from 
heat and electricity. The polarity of crystals, their 
access of growth, conclusively prove that the pro- 
duction of their beautiful forms is the result of 
magnetic forces. 

A bar of soft iron, when applied to a magnet, 



Spiritual Atmosphere. 149 

becomes itself magnetic, and so remains as long as 
held in contact, but not a moment longer. Magnet- 
ism then is destroyed ; but that peculiar force recog- 
nized by the sensitive remains much longer, and 
therefore acts on them precisely as a magnet. 

Cataleptic persons readily distinguish water to 
which a magnet has been applied ; and whatever 
substances the magnet may have recently touched 
produce on them impressions almost as strong as 
the magnet itself. They are also affected by water, 
or other substances which have been electrified by 
having a current of electricity passed through them. 

107. Impart ation of Influence. 

When a magnet is passed over a person, he 
becomes temporarily endowed with magnetic prop- 
erties. When Prof. Endlicher passed the magnet 
over himself, "to his surprise, he now, as had 
never happened before, could attract the hand of 
the'patient with his hand ; cause it to attach itself, 
and follow everywhere, just as the magnetized glass 
of water had done. He retained this power for 
nearly a quarter of an hour : by that time it had by 
degrees disappeared. The same unknown something 
which had been left in the iron rod by the magnet, 
and had likewise passed into the water, must there- 
fore have been conveyed into the whole person of 
the physician. It manifested itself, from the same 
cause, to the same effect in his fingers." This ex- 
periment was subsequently repeated in a variety of 



150 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

forms. In particular cases, this physician let his 
hand lie in Miss Nowotny's, while he rubbed the 
back of it with a strong magnet. The patient here 
said that she felt the force increase in the hand of 
the physician, by starts, with each pass of the mag- 
net. It is a remarkable fact that this force can be 
transferred from the magnet to an individual, ena- 
bling that individual to exert a powerful magnetic 
influence which he did not previously possess ; in 
fact, placing him in the exact position occupied by 
the strong natural magnetizer. Here the chasm 
between magnetic and crystallic influence, the force 
of the inorganic world, is bridged, and, with the 
power of animal magnetism, proved identical. Wa- 
ter can be magnetized with the hand as well as the 
magnet ; and the force of the hand is conducted and 
retained in precisely the same manner. 

108. Polarity of the Body. 

Such being the case, we ask, " Are we endowed 
with polarity, like a crystal or magnet ? " Experi- 
ments show that we . are. Our dual structure — 
two hemispheres of brain, double organs of senses, 
two hands, two limbs — points to this fact. Sensi- 
tives at once detect the difference between the hands. 
They describe the current as passing up the right, 
and down the left, arm. This difference can be 
nothing else than polarization such as is seen in the 
magnet. Of one of the baron's patients, he remarks, 
" She found, not only her right hand, but the whole 



Spiritual Atmosphere. 151 

right side of her body, opposed to her left : nay, the 
mere approximation towards her of my right or left 
hand affected her in a very different manner." This 
patient observed that the fingers were always tip- 
ped with light in the same manner as the poles of 
a magnet or crystal. This is confirmed by repeated 
experiments ; and I have often observed the same. 
If a small magnet^ or a crystal a few inches in 
length, can exert such an influence on a sensitive, 
causing even cataleptic spasms, agreeable sense of 
coolness, or disagreeable warmth, how much greater 
the influence of that vast magnet, the earth, with its 
tremendous polar attraction, and rivers of electric 
influence ! The planetary bodies, the sun and the 
moon, must also exert a strong influence. This 
conclusion may excite a smile of derision in those 
who have foregone conclusions, and class such ideas 
with the absurdities of astrology. To them we have 
nothing more to urge than the simple facts. The 
conclusions towards which they lead are inevitable, 
and wide of the vagaries of astrology. 

109. Abnormal Sensitiveness of the Diseased. 

The concealed processes of nature account, when 
understood, for many of the vagaries and inconsist- 
encies of men, especially of those rendered peculiarly 
sensitive by disease. Sometimes there seems to be 
a kind of polarity developed, so that the individual 
is restless when lying in any other position than 
that with his head to the north. The painful sensa- 



152 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

tions so otten experienced by those suffering from 
disease can be often dispelled by placing them in 
this position, and their restoration to health be 
greatly accelerated. These statements are con- 
firmed by the following facts recorded by Reich- 
enbach : — 

" Mr. Smith, a surgeon of Vienna, had received a 
chill of the right arm, and had for some time suf- 
fered from acute rheumatism, with the most painful 
cramps running from the shoulders to the fingers. 
His physicians treated him with the magnet, which 
quieted the cramps ; but they always returned. I 
found him lying with his head to the south. On 
my remarking this, they brought him in direction of 
the magnetic meridian, with his head to the north. 
Directly after coming into this position, he uttered 
expressions of pleasure : he declared he felt refreshed 
and strenthened. A pleasant uniform warmth dif- 
fused itself in the chilled part ; he felt the pass of 
the magnet incomparably more cooling and agree- 
able than before ; and, before I came away, the 
stiffened arm and the fingers became movable, and 
the pain had wholly disappeared." 

The sensitive Miss Nowotny had sought a posi- 
tion exactly corresponding to the direction of the 
needle : she found any other insupportable. When- 
ever she was placed in any other, her pulse rose, her 
face flushed with increased flow of blood to her 
head, and she became restless and uncomfortable. 
Of all positions, that of having her head to the west 
was most unbearable, being much worse than that 



Spiritual A tmosphere. 153 

of south-north position. While in that position, 
her sensations to external things became strikingly 
changed. The usually agreeable passes of the mag- 
net became unpleasant, and large ones insupport- 
able. Substances, as sulphur, before disagreeable, 
were almost indifferent ; and others, like lead, were 
agreeable. The results of experiments on eight 
different subjects were the same. These patients 
recalled to mind how uncomfortable they always 
were in church, without understanding the cause. 
The Catholic churches are all built from west to 
east, so that they had to take the west-east position, 
the worst of all for a sensitive, and often fainted 
from exhaustion. 

no. Disease and Sleep. 

Thus it is observed that terrestrial magnetism is 
appreciable by sensitive persons, modifying sleep, 
" disturbing the circulation of the blood, the func- 
tions of the nerves, and equilibrium of the vital 
force." 

These facts bear strongly on magnetism as ap- 
plied to the cure of diseases. Processes which will 
cure if the patient be in one position will only 
aggravate the disease if in another. They unravel 
the mystery which has shrouded the domain of 
mesmerism, and account for failures under seem- 
ingly identical circumstances. In one case, the 
magnetizer has the powerful influence of the earth 
working with him ; in another, against him. 

Of the influence of the sun, moon, and planets, we 



154 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

have all to learn. Undoubtedly, with their light and 
heat, is emanated the subtile force which is meas- 
ured only by sensitive nerves. When any substance 
is exposed to the sunlight for some time, it becomes 
luminous to the sensitive, and exerts a magnetic 
influence. This influence is conductible. When the 
patient, remaining in a dark room, takes hold of a 
wire passing out into the sunshine, he at once ex- 
periences the cooling sensation of magnetism. With 
the sun's rays, water can be magnetized, a weak 
magnet strengthened ; and, when an individual ex- 
poses himself for a brief time in the sunshine, he 
becomes capable of exerting a strong magnetic in- 
fluence. 

in. Influence of the Moon. 

The moon's rays afford the same results ; but they 
seem to have a stronger attractive power, drawing 
strongly the subject's hand towards the object from 
which they emanate. 

112. Influence of the Sun. 

Here is the key to the relation of sunlight to phy- 
siology. It is well known that many diseases are 
aggravated when night approaches, while others are 
more severe during the day. All varieties of ner- V 
vous pains are generally more unbearable at day 
than at night. This fact has been observed, but, by 
the materialism of modern science, referred summa- 
rily to imagination. The silence of the night gave 



Spiritual Atmosphere. 155 

free reign to fancy ; and small aches became un- 
bearable. During the day, the half of the earth 
illuminated is positive to the other illuminated hem- 
isphere ; and, when darkness reigns, the transition 
from one state to the other is as certain as that 
of the exchange of light and darkness. 

The sensations of evening are different from those 
of morning. We have enjoyed the light, and been 
positive, during the day. When night advances, we 
are to sink into its negative embrace. We are to 
become passive in the enveloping darkness, and 
enter a state " twin brother to death." At morning 
we arise from invigorating rest to meet the positive 
day. It is more restorative to sleep during the 
night. It is then the subtile magnetic forces are in 
harmony with that state. Sleep during the day, in 
the most secluded apartments, is restless and fever- 
ish. This distinction is recognized by animals of 
all species, and by plants. The former, during the 
presence of the sun, absorb oxygen, and throw off 
carbonic acid : plants, on the contrary, absorb car- 
bonic acid, and yield oxygen. During the night, the 
vital powers of the former are reduced to their low- 
est ebb ; and the latter reverse the process of com- 
bination, and throw off carbonic acid, and absorb 
oxygen. Night is no more terrible than day ; yet 
the mind, overcome by the negative condition im- 
posed then on all things, peoples it with fancies. It 
is the established season for ghosts, especially the 
hour of midnight. Night, too, is the wakeful season 
for the author and thinker : they find it more fruit- 



156 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

ful of original thoughts ; for their minds are then 
passive, and can drink truth through their intui- 
tions. After being in the intense sunlight for a 
length of time, how agreeable is the shade, or a 
darkened room ! The effects are remarkably in- 
tense. In negative diseases, the effect of sunlight 
is wonderfully beneficial ; and, in positive diseases, 
darkness is equally so. Cataleptic persons, in whom 
it may be thought the normal condition of the fac- 
ulties is so vitiated that they are not reliable, are 
not the only ones affected ; but often the nerves of 
persons in health become susceptible to such deli- 
cate influences. The magnetic flames arising from 
almost all bodies, especially those undergoing chem- 
ical change, are by such discernible, and probably 
the prolific cause of ghost-seeing. It is said that 
only nervous, and hence unreliable, persons see 
ghosts : but this is not as strong an objection as 
has been supposed ; for it is possible only for those 
with a delicately vibrating nervous organization to 
perceive what is unperceivable to common eyes. 
As illustrations, a volume of evidence might be 
compiled. 

113. Influence of Locality. 

" An occurrence which took place in Pfeffers gar- 
den at Colmar is tolerably well known, and has 
appeared in many published accounts. I will briefly 
mention some of the most important points. He 
had appointed a young evangelical clergyman as his 
amanuensis. The blind German poet was led by 



Spiritual A tmosphere. 157 

this person when he walked out. This occurred in 
his garden, which lay at some distance from the 
town. Pfeffel remarked, that, every time they came 
to a particular spot, Billing's arm trembled, and he 
manifested uneasiness. Some conversation about 
this ensued ; and the young man unwillingly stated, 
that, as often as he came over that spot, certain 
sensations attacked him which he could not over- 
come, and which he always experienced at places 
where human bodies were interred. When he came 
to such places at night, he usually saw strange 
sights. With a view to cure this man of his delu- 
sion, Pfeffel returned with him to the garden the 
same night. When they approached this place in 
the dark, Billing at once perceived a weak light, 
and, when near enough, the appearance of a form of 
immaterial flame waving in the air above the spot. 
He described it as resembling a woman's form, one 
arm laid across the body, the other hanging down, 
wavering, erect, or at rest ; the feet elevated about 
two hands'-breadths above the ground. Pfeffel 
walked up to it alone, as the young man would not 
accompany him ; struck about at random with his 
stick, and ran across the place ; but the spectre did 
not move nor alter. It was as when one passes a 
stick through flame, — the fiery shape always re- 
covered the same form. Many things were done 
during several months, parties taken thither ; but the 
matter remained always the same, and the ghost-seer 
always held to his earnest assertion, consequently to 
the supposition that some one must lie buried there. 



158 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

At last, Pfeffel had the place dug up. At some 
depth, a solid layer of white lime was met with, 
about as long and as broad as a grave, tolerably 
thick ; and, when this was broken through, they dis- 
covered the skeleton of a human body. 

" It had been covered with a layer of quick-lime, 
as is the custom in time of pestilence. The bones 
were taken out, the hole filled, and the surface lev- 
eled. When Billing was again taken there, the 
appearance was gone, and the nocturnal spirit had 
vanished forever." — Dynamics, p. 142. 

* 

114. Of Church-yard Ghosts. 

When the baron conducted some of his sensitives 
to a church-yard, they at once recognized a similar 
appearance over all the graves, especially the more 
recent ones ; and they at once referred them to the 
same class as that of the magnet or crystal. Al- 
though this flame has been a prolific source of 
ghost-stories, we need not call ghosts to our aid to 
furnish an explanation. We know that this flame 
is produced by chemical change. All bodies under- 
going change exhibit it. Of course the decompo- 
sition occurring in a grave furnishes an abundant 
source ; and, as these gaseous products slowly arise, 
so will the flame. 

It is said truly, that not to all is given the sight 
which enables them to see the ghosts which hover 
around church-yards ; for all are not sufficiently 
sensitive : but many are, and are derided as cow- 



Spiritual Atmosphere. 159 

ardly or fanciful, when the objects they perceive are 
realities to them, as much as the tombstones are to 
others. It requires no stretch of fancy to shape the 
upright, waving, luminous cloud into human form. 
Educational prejudice, the horror of the place, the 
dread season of night, generally beget sufficient fear 
to at once so shape the clouds much more distinctly 
than those we form into angels and beasts as they 
float through the sky. 

These ghosts are nothing more than the luminous 
flame produced by the chemical changes always 
accompanying it ; and it can be seen by the sensi- 
tive. It is strange that this fact of chemistry should 
have given rise to the most unbelievable stories of 
goblins and ghosts, having no more existence than 
a wisp of flame, or fog-like cloud. 

115. The Image sometimes remains. 

Sometimes the image of a thing remains im- 
pressed in the place where it has stood. M. Teste, 
in his journal, cites, with respect to this, a curious 
experiment. A female somnambulist enters the 
room, and exclaims, "What a pretty girl is sitting 
on that chair ! ' At this exclamation, M. Teste 
observes to her that she is mistaken ; that no pretty 
girl is there. Far from giving in to this declaration, 
she sees one on each chair ; and there were six of 
them. Unable to account for this hallucination, he 
contented himself with gathering exact details of 
the dress of these little girls, and confessed that a 



160 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

little girl precisely similar had been playing there 
for a moment before the somnambulist entered, 
and had jumped upon the six chairs, one after 
the other, sitting down on them. " I have often 
recognized that the image of natural objects, set 
in a certain place, remained there for a long 
time. ,, 

Mrs. Denton, an extremely sensitive person, re- 
lates, that, on entering a car from which the passen- 
gers had gone to dinner, she was surprised to see 
the seats all occupied. 

" Many of them were sitting perfectly composed, 
as if, for them, little interest were attached to this 
station, while others were already in motion (a kind 
of compressed motion), as if preparing to leave. 
I thought this somewhat strange, and was about 
turning to find a vacant seat in another car, when 
a second glance around showed me that the pas- 
sengers who had appeared so indifferent were really 
losing their identity, and, in a moment more, were 
invisible to me. I had had sufficient time to note 
the personal appearance of several ; and, taking a 
seat, I awaited the return of the passengers, think- 
ing it more than probable I might in them find the 
prototypes of the faces and forms I had, a moment 
before, so singularly beheld. Nor was I disap- 
pointed. A number of those who returned to the 
cars I recognized as being, in every particular, the 
counterparts of their late but transient representa- 
tives." 



Spiritual Atmosphere. 161 

Il6. PSYCHOMETRICAL DREAM. 

The explanation of the following dream may seem 
incredible ; but, after a thorough understanding of 
the vast generalization we are attempting of mental 
and physical phenomena, it may cease to appear so. 

" Several years ago, during a severe winter, the 
Schuylkill River, near Philadelphia, became thickly 
bridged over with ice ; and thousands of persons 
resorted thither for the purpose of skating, sliding, 
&c. Among other inventions for the amusement of 
those visiting the place, there was a post sunk 
through the ice, at the top of which there was a 
point, and a horizontal revolving arm attached to it. 
To the end of this, the drag-ropes of sleds were 
attached ; so that, by pushing the shaft, the sleds, 
with persons on them, might be made to revolve 
swiftly in a circle upon the ice. Among the rest, a 
negro got upon the sled ; and the person in charge 
of the shaft caused it to revolve so rapidly that the 
negro was thrown outward by the centrifugal force, 
and, striking violently against a large, projecting 
piece of ice, was killed instantly. 

" This occurrence was witnessed by a physician, 
a friend of my informant, who happened to be pres- 
ent. On that very evening, the physician had occa- 
sion to prepare a dose of pills for one of his patients, 
a lady extremely susceptible to magnetic influences. 
As he was mixing the ingredients of the pills, and 
rolling them in his fingers, he related in all its par- 
ticulars, to persons in the office, the occurrence he 



ii 



1 62 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

had witnessed on the river during the, day. The 
pills were afterwards despatched to the lady by 
another person. The next day, the physician, see- 
ing one of the lady's family, inquired concerning her 
health. In the answer that was returned, it was 
stated, among other things, that she had had a sin- 
gular dream the night previous. She dreamed that 
she was somewhere on the ice, where many people 
were sliding and skating ; that she had there seen a 
negro thrown, from a revolving sled, against a cake 
of ice, and instantly killed, &c. Her dream, as re- 
lated, was an exact reproduction of all the essential 
statements of facts which had, without her knowl- 
edge, been given by the physician while he was pre- 
paring the medicine, and concerning which facts she 
had received no information from any quarter. ,, 

The physician imparted his influence to the med- 
icine, which, acting on an impressible mind, repro- 
duced his thoughts in the form of a dream. 

So the mechanic imparts a portion of himself 
to his wares ; and the various articles of food are 
impregnated with the spheres of their producers. 
Dwellings partake of the influence of all those who 
have once entered them. Garments reproduce 
the character of their wearers. Dwellings wherein 
countless persons enter, and the products of various 
climes are stored, are always pervaded by innumer- 
able influences. These affect all more or less, but 
only the extremely sensitive in a marked degree. 
Many who are not susceptible while oppressed by 
the cares of the day are highly so during the nega- 



Spiritual Atmosphere. 163 

tiveness of night, and the passivity of sleep. These 
surrounding influences, blending, often re-appear in 
dreams. 

117. Individual Spheres blending 

Produce the distinctive characters of communities 
and cities. The emanations from the earth, — 
which Reichenbach terms "odylic," — which all min- 
erals exhibit, also exert an influence in the deter- 
mination of the character of the people dwelling on 
its surface. Sometimes persons feel this subterra- 
nean influence keenly, although, in ignorance of its 
cause, they fail to understand why they are disagree- 
ably or agreeably affected. 



118. Conclusions. 

The preceding facts lead to two conclusions, — 
first, the impressibility of the nervous system, not 
only of man, but of all animals ; second, that ema- 
nations capable of exciting influence on the nervous 
system are thrown off from all organic and inorganic 
substances. 

Granting these, no matter what theory of trans- 
mission we receive, that of pulsation, or of simple 
force, there must exist a bond or medium of com- 
munication. A brain in England, to affect a brain 
in America, must do so through a connecting sub- 
stance. Admitting the facts of impressibility, the 
existence of a spirit-ether, universal and all-permeat- 
ing, becomes self-evident. 



VII. 

RELATION OF THE SPIRITUAL TO THE ANIMAL IN 

MAN. 

Not that I think their sense divinely given, 
Or prescience theirs to mark the will of Heaven : 
But still, through Nature's vast and varied range, 
The airs, vicissitudes, and seasons change ; 
New instincts sway ; and their inconstant mind 
Shifts with the cloud, and varies with the wind. 

Virgil. 

Brahma inscribes the destiny of every mortal on his skull ; and the gods 
themselves cannot avert it. — Hindu Maxims. 

Man is a civilized animal. 

119. The Brain. 

THE brain is the organ of the mind in animals 
as well as in man. Its different sections man- 
ifest different faculties. The passions reside in its 
base ; the intellect, in its front ; and the moral and 
spiritual, at its summit. Although the mapping of 
its surface, as practiced by phrenologists, may be 
regarded as in a great measure visionary, and far 
from scientific, these great divisions are recognized 
by all. Animals have the base of the brain as fully 
developed as man ; but in them the frontal portion 
is defective, and the upper region almost wanting. 
In savage man, the latter is scarcely more expanded 



The Spiritual and Animal in Man. 165 

than in the animal. In proportion as the front and 
coronal portions of the brain expand, man becomes 
civilized, and removed from the animal world. The 
manifestation of mind in the animal has been called 
instinct ; in man, intellect ; and an impassable gulf is 
said to exist between the two by those who study 
the subject in the fog of metaphysics. Anatomy, 
however, is the umpire, and decides that the differ- 
ence is in kind, not in degree. Intellect is instinct, 
modified by the development of faculties before 
latent The passions of man, considered purely by 
themselves, are the same as those of animals. With 
them, they constitute nearly their whole mentality ; 
with him, a minor part, — the base on which his 
superior intellectuality rests. 

120. Instinct. 

If the actions of animals are observed, all the fac- 
ulties which connect man with physical matter can 
be unerringly traced. Their possession is a neces- 
sity. Desire for food, the sexual instinct, love of 
offspring, gregariousness, the dawn of friendship, 
constructiveness, exist in all the mammalia. In 
them, these traits are, as it were, concreted, and are 
exhibited in their pure, unadulterated form, going 
straight to their mark, unguided by reason. In man, 
their office is the same ; but they are controlled by 
superior faculties, which have become active. They 
are the motive power ; but are guided, instead of 
rushing blindly to their object 



1 66 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

121. Reflections. 

It may pain us to contemplate this connection, by 
which our immortal nature dips into the stratum of 
materiality ; but it should rather elevate our concep- 
tion of the harmony and divine order of nature. 
From this lower stratum, the spirit draws its life ; 
and, how high soever may be its future flight, it will 
hold to this connection. 

Does the noble tree, throwing aloft its branches, 
swayed by storms, and fanned by zephyrs, despise 
its roots, winding through rugged ways in the dark 
recesses of the rocky earth ? Does it consider their 
office an ignoble one ? There must be roots before 
an oak ; and those roots are of the dark and material 
soil. Far above, the flower may fill the air with 
fragrance, or the mature fruit tempt the passer-by ; 
but they remain steadfastly grasping the material 
world. 

So with the spirit, expanding upward into the 
light of the divine. Its progress is accretive : it 
loses nothing. The passions are roots by which it 
takes hold of the physical world, and is sustained. 

122. \ The Spirit loses Nothing. 



/ — 

As the tree loses not its leaves when it expands 

its blooms, but profits by them continually, the spirit 
throws away none of its faculties. 

It is a strange philosophy which teaches that 
spirit does not retain its propensities after the dis- 
solution of the body. It is a theory belonging to 



The Spiritual and Animal in Man. 167 

the time when the definition of spirit was the best 
that could be given of nonentity, — without emotion 
or love, retaining only the susceptibility of enjoy- 
ment and suffering. 

What is it that sends the Howards, the Nightin- 
gales, the Dixes, on their visits of mercy to the suf- 
fering and needy ? We say it is their benevolence, 
the warm sympathy they feel towards the sufferers. 
This is true ; but it is also true, that, without decis- 
ion, firmness, and combative energy, — the forces of 
the lower brain, — they would not stir from their 
own comfortable firesides. They would feel deeply 
for misery ; but theirs would be a passive sympa- 
thy, never putting itself in action. 

The engine may be ever so well constructed in its 
mechanism ; but if water is withheld from the boiler, 
and fire from the grate, it is useless. I would not 
be understood as advocating the supremacy of the 
basal brain. Far from it : I only say that its office 
is important and necessary, when confined within 
proper limits. It should never dictate to the spirit- 
ual perceptions ; but, as the steam of the engine is 
controlled by the power it itself evokes, so should 
the energy of the passions be governed. If other- 
wise, and the motive power be allowed to guide 
itself, there is explosion, collision, and ruin. 

123. No Perversion in Animals. 

Concrete and intense as are the basal faculties in 
animals, they are rarely, if ever, misdirected or per- 



1 68 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

verted. They go straight to their object, and no 
farther. To provide themselves with food, and care 
for their offspring, are their ruling motives. They 
experience none of the insatiable desires which 
elevate or degrade mankind. They are content, 
because all the materials which their natures de- 
mand are found in their sphere of action. 

Their appetites require only materials wherewith 
to build up their bodies ; and these the herbivorous 
animals find in the grass of the field, and the car- 
nivora in the flesh of the inoffensive herbivora. 
Their passions are included in the circle of increas- 
ing their species, and defending themselves and off- 
spring from danger. The imperfect affections lead 
them to supply the necessities of their offspring for 
a short time only, and perhaps give them the grega- 
rious tendencies by which some species are always 
herded together. 

124. The Result. 

The result of this combination is perfect selfish- 
ness. The care of its selfhood is the perpetual 
effort of the animal : only when caring for its young, 
does it, for a moment, depart from its selfishness. 
If it sees danger, it flies ; or, if it thinks itself able, 
it defends itself: but it never becomes a conqueror. 
Selfish as it is, throughout the extent of the animal 
world there is not an Alexander nor Napoleon. 
Many lay by a winter store ; but an Astor or Girard 
they have not. Their appetites are greedy ; but no 
epicure disgraces their ranks. 



The Spiritual and Animal in Man. 169 

125. Perversion — its Cause. 

Seeing this, men often allude to it, and hold it up 
as an example worthy of imitation ; but it does not 
prove the animal anywise superior to the man. 

/"The animal, finding all its desires gratified, has no 
need of violating its constitution. Not so with man. 

(With him, the animal nature becomes the slave 
of a superior. It is the force by which that supe- 
rior manifests itself on the material world. Man 
being far from perfection, his uneducated intellect 
often mistakes its wants ; and, hence, perversions 
and abuses. The instinctive qualities of the appe- 
tites and passions are lost in the blaze of intellect ; 
often in ignorance, a worse guide. 

126. Man's Intellectual Nature. 

Having considered man in his connection with 
the inferior world, let us view him under the new 
aspect bestowed by the addition of the above-named 
higher attributes. At once, he becomes another 
being. Here he is joined to the Infinite. Here 
gleams the light of his immortal nature, and, as we 
shall show in another place, rests the strong philo- 
sophical proof of his immortality. This nature bends 
every appetite and passion. It is restless, insati- 
able, striving after the unattainable. We see here 
glimmerings of an immortal nature, with cravings 
unsatisfied by the best the physical world can be- 
stow. 



1 70 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

127. Desires Insatiate. 

The conqueror, the epicure, the drunkard, each 
seeks, after his own misguided fashion, to answer 
the demands of his nature. They mistake those 
demands, and are plunged in mire. The hero mar- 
shaling Greece, subjugating Persia, and rushing 
from the Mediterranean, past Babylon and Tyre, 
to the confines of India, grasped the sceptre of the 
world. His immortal aspirations were not appeased 
by the control of empires, but increased : fori it is a 
law with our desires, if we pervert them, the greater 
the perversion, the more ardent they become ; for 
we ever give them food of which they cannot par- 
take. The whole realm of the world satisfied not 
the conqueror. He paused, red-handed, sick-hearted, 
by the ocean shore. He gazed off at its illimitable 
space, dimly shadowing his own soul, and wept that 
there were no more worlds to conquer. The cov- 
eted prize turned to dust in his grasp. It was not 
conquest the soul of Alexander wanted. His com- 
bativeness mistook the spirit's desires for infinite 
perfection for infinite conquest, and drove the mad 
man on. }Napoleon, breathing his regrets to the 
desert air of St. Helena, is a type of the happiness 
bestowed by misguided ambition. 

Nor does the acquisition of wealth bestow more 
happiness. Astor's millions made him their slave, 
as immense wealth always enslaves its possessor. 
Out of it he received the necessaries of life ; and 
the remainder was a useless toy. Yet he was close 



The Spiritual and Animal in Man. 171 

in calculation, and strove to increase his millions, 
dwarfing his mentality in direct proportion as he 
increased his wealth. He found that there is little 
happiness in riches : they did not still the cravings 
of his soul. The drunkard thinks happiness can be 
obtained by the cup. His love for the pure bever- 
age distilled from heaven mistakes the desire of the 
spirit, and drinks the distilled poison. - That never 
appeases : the more given, the greater the demand, 
until the body breaks down under the burden. 
With all the animal faculties the amount of happi- 
ness yielded is very limited, being only sufficient to 
insure their activity. 

The amount of pleasure the epicure enjoys is of a 
base kind and evanescent quality. So of the others. 
There is nothing permanent nor enduring in their 
character. They yield no pleasure after their grati- 
fication. They who expect to find happiness from 
them will be disappointed ; for it will be so brief, 
and so coarse in quality, as not to be worth its cost. 
The spirit is unsatisfied with these. Immortal and 
infinite in capabilities, it demands expansion in the 
spiritual, not physical, realm. The happiness be- 
stowed by them is only sufficient to insure the per- 
formance of their appropriate functions, and no 
more. Not one jota more can be wrung from them. 
If pressed to yield more, they recoil on their pos- 
sessor, and either compel him to desist, by the 
pangs of disease, or, if he persists, by the dissolu- 
v tion of the physical body. 

Mentally their gratification yields nought but dis- 



\*]2 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

satisfaction ; physically, disease and death. Ah ! it is 
a loathsome train that follows their paths. See their 
bloated forms, their haggard countenances, as they 
groan beneath the smarting lash of their own mis- 
guided passion! Theirs is the way of death, — 
death that comes to them a ministering angel of 
mercy, throwing from their immortal spirits the 
crushing weight of their physical deformities. 

128. Moral Aspect. 

The animal faculties arc not necessarily sinful. 
Their functions are as holy as those of the intellect. 
Sin is the result of over-action, misdirection, or 
unguided activity. (Man's salvation depends on his 
intellectual and moral faculties, which overlie, and 
should control, his being. \ To effect this desirable 
end is the chief object of education. In olden times 
men fled to the wilderness, and secluded themselves 
in the solitudes of mountains, that, by contempla- 
tion and humiliation, they might obtain this mas- 
tery of their passions. 

They regarded their voice as sinful. We regard 
their licence as sinful, but their natural functions as 
right. Blind, and purely selfish, they rush to ruin 
unless controlled. They arc not subdued by allow- 
ing them unlimited sway. They cannot burn them- 
selves out ; for use permanently increases their 
power. Give them free rein ? As soon open the 
throttle-valve of a locomotive, and allow the monster 
to rush along the track without the guiding intel- 



The Spiritual and Animal in Man. 1 73 

ligence of the engineer. They are not the equals of 
the intellect, and, unrestrained, are always destruc- 
tive. 

129. In the Ideal Man, 

All faculties are so perfectly balanced, that the 
spirit is free from the strife of untoward desires. 
This lofty ideal may be seldom attained, amid the 
cares and perplexities of earthly life, where it comes 
in rude contact with materiality ; but it is possible. 



130. The Mandate of Conscience. 

It is not desirable to trample the desires with 
haughty pride beneath our feet ; to fast on a tower, 
or to lacerate our flesh. Far preferable to say to 
these terrible forces which hold us to organic exist- 
ence, ^So far as you subserve the maintenance, 
growth, and development of my spirit, it is well ; but 
trespass not one step farther.^} 



131. The Test of Conduct. 

Man is a half-civilized animal ; and often the 
genii of his wild nature show their terrible forms, or 
refuse obedience to the voice of conscience. Is 
there ever a doubt whither to go ; which to allow 
guidance ? Ask which is the highest motive of 
conduct, and give that the preference. 



V 1 1 1. 

ANIMAL MAGNETISM, — ITS BOUNDARIES, LAWS, AND 

RELATION TO SPIRIT. 

The occult science, designated by the ancient priests under the name of 
regenerating fire, is that which, at the present day, is known, as animal 
magnetism, — a science, that, for more than three thousand years, was 
the peculiar possession of the Indian and Egyptian priesthood, into the 
knowledge of which Moses was initiated at Heliopolis, when he was 
educated ; and Jesus, among the Essenian priests of Egypt or Judea ; 
and by which these two great reformers, particularly the latter, wrought 
many of the miracles mentioned in Scripture. — Father Rebold. 

132. Necessity of investigating the Laws of 

Magnetism. 

IT is so common for Spiritualists to refer every- 
thing of a psychological character to spiritual 
influence, that it seems necessary to enlarge on the 
facts of animal magnetism, or mesmerism. Being 
similar, and governed by precisely the same laws, 
the phenomena are intimately blended ; and it be- 
comes necessary to study the subject fully to deter- 
mine what are and what are not of spiritual origin. 
I have not sought to present a compend of facts, 
but to give one or more as representing each class. 

133. The Name. 

Dissatisfaction has been repeatedly expressed at 
the term "animal magnetism;" and "mesmerism," 



A nimal Magnetism. 175 

"neurology/ 1 "patheism," and " psychodunamy," em- 
ployed. All of these terms are more objectionable 
than the first. With proper definition, no confusion 
can occur by confounding with magnetism (and its 
simulate phenomena those observed in magnets) 
living bodies attracting or repelling each other. 
The adoption of the name of Mesmer has been the 
means of bringing the subject into disrepute. He 
knew nothing of the true method of determining 
truth ; and, ecstatic from his discovery, he made such 
wild conjectures and improbable claims that even 
the friends of the measure became disgusted. Had 
he possessed a calm and reflecting mind, his state- 
ments would have been quite differently received. 

It at once fell into the hands of selfish men, who 
sold it for money. Mesmer, himself, led in this 
movement ; and, ever since, it has been its fate to 
be the stock in trade of charlatans and impostors. 
The early decision of the French Academy has been 
taken as conclusive ; and men capable of investigat- 
ing it have not been attracted towards an unpopular 
field. But, aside from Mesmer and his prolific brood 
of charlatans, there is a truth, which, from most an- 
cient times, has been recognized. Mesmer simply 
gave his name to facts thoroughly known to the an- 
cients, and grouped them under a wild hypothesis. 

134. Animal Magnetism among the Ancients. 

To Apollonius of Tyana must be given the palm 
of mesmerizers. He seems to have been a man of 



\ 



176 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

prodigious fascinating power, and was not only 
famous for curing diseases, and his powers of clair- 
voyance, but also for foretelling events. While 
delivering a public lecture at Ephesus, in the midst 
of a large assembly, he saw the Emperor Domitian 
being murdered at Rome ; and it was proved to the 
satisfaction of all, that, while the murder was per- 
forming, he described every circumstance attending 
it to the crowd, and announced the very instant in 
which the tyrant was slain. It is recorded, that, so 
great was his nervous influence, that " his mere pres- 
ence, without uttering a single word, was sufficient 
to quell a popular tumult." As we are thus draw- 
ing examples from antiquity, we might mention the 
narrative recorded in the Holy Writ, — the case of 
Saul when he entered the woman of Endor's house. 
She knew not who he was ; but, when her spiritual 
powers were excited, she immediately recognized 
him. Swedenborg gives a striking illustration of 
the development of this sense. By its aid, he 
seemed to become en rapport with the spheres. 

Once, while dining with a company of friends 
some miles distant from his own town, he became 
greatly agitated, arose, walked out, but soon came 
in composed, and informed the company that there 
had been a great conflagration in his town ; that it 
had spread nearly to his residence, but had there 
been extinguished, while within only a single door 
of his house. This was all true. 

Innumerable anecdotes might be related to prove 
that the mind, when in a peculiar state, receives 



A nimal Magnetism. 177 

knowledge of things of which none of the senses 
can be the channel of communication. I call this a 
sense. Perhaps " impressibility of the brain ' ' would 
be a better term ; but it is certain this sensibility 
differs from, and cannot be referred to, any one of 
the senses. 

Animal magnetism was acknowledged in very 
ancient times. Thus it has been recorded of Py- 
thagoras, who flourished five centuries before Christ, 
" that his influence over the lower animals was very 
great. He is said to have tamed a furious bear, 
prevented an ox from eating beans, and stopped an 
eagle in its flight/' 

135. Man possesses this Influence over Ani- 
mals. 

The power of man over the horse is well known. 
Rarey became famous for his magnetic force, which 
inspired him with such confidence that he fearlessly 
met the most vicious animals. 

According to Bruce, the African traveler, all the 
blacks of the kingdom of Sennaar are completely 
armed against the reptiles of their clime. " They 
take horned serpents into their hands at all times, 
put them into their bosoms, and throw them at each 
other, as children throw apples or balls ; during which 
sport, the serpents are seldom irritated, and, when 
they do bite, no mischief ensues from the wound. 
He positively affirms that they sicken the moment 
they are laid hold of, and are so exhausted by this 



12 



178 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

power as to perish. " I constantly observed, that, 
however lively the viper was before, upon being 
seized by these barbarians, he seemed as if he had 
been taken with sickness and feebleness, frequently 
shut his eyes, and never turned his mouth towards 
the arm that held him." 

We see the same power in the influence house- 
breakers possess over the most savage of watch-dogs, 
and showmen who enter the cage of fierce lions. 

136. Animals can influence Man. 

This influence may be exerted in an opposite 
direction ; and well-attested anecdotes are extant, 
showing that man may become fascinated by the 
lower animals. 

A gentleman once walking in his garden acciden- 
tally saw the eyes of a rattlesnake ; and, by watching 
it closely, he found to his dismay that he could not 
withdraw them. The snake appeared to him to swell 
to an immense size, and in rapid succession assume 
the most gorgeous colors, rivaling the rainbow in 
beauty. His senses deserted him, and he grew 
dizzy, and would have fallen towards the snake, to 
which he seemed irresistibly drawn, had not his wife, 
coming up at the moment, thrown her arms around 
his neck, thereby dispelling the charm, and saving 
him from destruction. 

Two men in Maryland were walking along the 
road, when one, seeing something by the way, 
stopped to look at it, while his companion went on. 



Animal Magnetism. 1 79 

But the latter, perceiving he did not follow, turned 
around to know the cause, when he found that his 
eyes were directed towards a rattlesnake, whose 
head was raised and eyes glaring at him. Strangely 
enough, the poor fellow leaned as far as possible 
towards his snakeship, crying piteously all the time, 
" He will bite me ! he will bite me ! " 

" Sure enough he will," said his friend, "if you do 
not move off. What are you standing there for ? " 
Finding him deaf to all his entreaties, he struck the 
creature down with his cane, and pushed his friend 
from the spot. The man thus enchanted is stated to 
have been sick for several hours. But we cannot 
multiply cases of this description, which are com- 
mon fireside anecdotes. 



137. Animals can Influence each Other. 

Cases of snakes fascinating birds are common. 

Prof. Silliman mentions, that, in 1823, he was pro- 
ceeding in a carriage, with a friend, along the banks 
of the Hudson River, when he observed a flock of 
small birds, of different species, flying hither and 
thither, but never departing from the central point. 
He found that this point of attraction was a large 
snake, which lay coiled up, with head erected, eyes 
brilliant, and incessantly darting its tongue. When 
disturbed by the carriage, he went into the bushes, 
while the birds alighted on the branches overhead, 
probably to await the re-appearance of their deadly 
enemy. 



180 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

A man from Pennsylvania, returning from a ride, 
saw a blackbird flying, in lessening circles, around 
the head of a rattlesnake, uttering frightful screams 
all the time. He drove the snake away, and the 
bird changed its note to a song of rejoicing. 

Newman relates an anecdote of a gentleman, who, 
while traveling by the side of a creek, saw a ground- 
squirrel running to and fro between a brook and a 
great tree a few yards distant. The squirrel's hair 
looked extremely rough, and showed that he was 
much frightened. Every return was shorter and 
shorter. The gentleman stood to observe the cause, 
and soon discovered the head of a rattlesnake point- 
ing directly at the squirrel, through a hole in the 
great tree, which was hollow. At length the squir- 
rel gave up running, and lay down close by the 
snake, which opened his mouth, and took in the 
squirrel's head. The gentleman gave him a cut with 
the whip, which caused him to draw back his head, 
when the squirrel, thus liberated, ran quickly to the 
brook. 

Such curious phenomena have long been observed 
and speculated upon. To extend the list is unneces- 
sary ; for almost every one has observed the facts for 
themselves. 

They establish the conclusion that this influence 
or impressibility is not the result of sympathy or 
imagination ; for it is experienced by animals that 
cannot be said to have any great degree of either. 
It is a power possessed by animals as well as by 
man. Animals influence man ; man influences ani- 



Animal Magnetism. 1 8 1 

mals ; animals influence each other ; and man con- 
trols man. 



138. Why do we think of those who are 

thinking of us ? 

How often do we think of those, who, while we 
know it not, are approaching us ! So general is this 
experience, that it has passed into a proverb. 

I find two facts, illustrating this, in the " Univer- 
.coelum." 

"A clergyman informed me that his mother-in- 
law, Mrs. P , residing in Providence, R.I., had a 

distinct consciousness of the approach of her hus- 
band, on his return from sea, although she had no 
other reason to expect his arrival at the time. This 
impression commenced several hours before he made 
his appearance ; and she accordingly prepared her- 
self for his reception. She knew the instant he 
placed his hand upon the door, and had arisen from 
her seat, and advanced to meet him, before he en- 
tered. 

"The wife of a clergyman in Maine lately in- 
formed me that her father, while lying on his death- 
bed, had a distinct perception of the approach of his 
son, who resided in a distant town, though none of 
the family expected him at the time. When he 
mentioned that his son was coming, and near the 
house, they supposed him to be wandering in his 
thoughts ; but, in a few minutes afterwards, the son 
entered." 



1 82 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

The following is taken from the transactions of 
the French Academy, found in " Newman's Magnet- 
ism. 

"On the ioth of September, at ten o'clock at 
night, the commission met at the house of M. Itardt, 
in order to continue its inquiries upon Carot, their 
mesmeric subject, who was in the library, where 
conversation had been carried on with him till half- 
past seven ; at which time, M. Foissac, the magnet- 
izer, who had arrived since Carot, and had waited 
in the antechamber, separated from the library by 
two closed doors and a distance of twelve feet, be- 
gan to magnetize him. Three minutes afterwards, 
Carot said, i I think that Foissac is there ; for I feel 
myself oppressed and enfeebled/ At the expiration 
of eight minutes, he was completely asleep. He was 
again questioned, and answered us," &c. 

Carot did not know that M. Foissac was near, 
and yet by some means the irresistible influence 
overcame him. 



139. Influence of Man over Man. 

It has been an adage from all antiquity, that young 
people were not so healthy for living with the old. 
The Hebrews acted on this idea when they pro- 
cured a young damsel for their old king David, that 
he might be invigorated by her strength. There is 
an anecdote extant of an aged female who compelled 
her servants to retire in the same bed with herself, 
that she might prolong her life thereby, and carried 



Animal Magnetism. 183 

this horrid vampirism to such an excess, that, her 
maids all becoming sickly after a time, she could 
induce none to work for her, and, in consequence, 
expired. 

An eminent physician states a fact pertinent in 
this connection. 

"I was a few years since consulted about a pale, 
sickly, and thin boy of about five or six years of age. 
He appeared to have no specific ailment ; but there 
was a slow and remarkable decline of flesh and 
strength, and of the energy of all the functions, — 
what his mother very aptly termed 'a gradual blight/ 
After inquiring into the history of the case, it came 
out that he had been a very robust and plethoric 
child up to his third year, when his grandmother, a 
very aged person, took him to sleep with her ; that 
he soon after lost his good looks, and that he had 
continued to decline progressively ever since, not- 
withstanding medical treatment/' 

The boy was removed to a separate sleeping 
apartment, and his recovery was very rapid. 

A case lately came under my observation, where 
a consumptive, on the very verge of the grave, ex- 
pecting to die every hour, and of course too feeble 
to move, on being magnetized, arose under the in- 
fluence, and walked about the room ; yet, as soon as 
the invigoration became expended, she was as weak 
as previously, and, in the course of a few days, ex- 
pired. She was too near death to recover ; and 
though magnetism might protract life, and cause 
a momentary excitation, it could not save. 



184 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

It is from this cause that magnetic practice ex- 
hausts the magnetizer; not from his exertion in 
making passes, but the drain of nervous force. 



140. Generalization. Spiritual Ether. 

Whatever this influence may be, it must pass 
across greater or less distances to produce the 
effects observed. It cannot be transmitted across 
a void : it must have its own means of conduction. 
What do the facts teach ? They all point in one 
direction, and are susceptible of generalization, as 
flowing from one common source, — a universal 
spiritual ether.* 

141. The Impressibility of the Brain, 

Discovered in 1842, by Dr. Buchanan, opened a new 
field for human thought. To his surpassing powers 
of research we owe the opening of the portals of a 
new science, comprising and generalizing all mental 
sciences. Psychometry is the key by which the 
mysteries of many of the most occult sciences may 
be explored. It gives the historian a barque which 
will conduct him safely down the stream of time, 
beyond all preserved chronicles, where his tattered 
manuscript becomes confused in dates, and records 
imperfectly, and wafts on the psychologist through 
millions of cycles, down, down to the beginning of 
life in this -world, when desolation and raging ele 

* For extension of this subject, see Chapter V. 



A nimal Magnetism. 185 

ments made the earth a chaos of contention. It 
enters into, and supersedes, phrenology. While the 
latter deals with the external structure, — with the 
wheel-work and gearing, as it were, — and foretells 
what the action of the mind will be when the power 
is applied, the former enters and lays bare the most 
interior desires and most secret thoughts, and speaks 
what is, not what can be. 

If by phrenology we would know the character 
of a friend, he must be present ; but, for this " soul- 
measurer," only an autograph, a lock of hair, or piece 
of apparel, is requisite. Thus, not only in our scien- 
tific researches, but also in our business relations, it 
offers us a sure and unwavering guide. 

This field, which promises, more than any other, to 
reward the explorer, is as yet not fully defined. So 
varied are the conditions to be determined and 
proven, and so much skill is necessary in instituting 
experiments, that one may almost be charged with 
presumption for making the attempt. Mr. Denton, 
following in the steps of Dr. Buchanan, has extended 
his experiments over almost every field of research ; 
and so great are the number of the impressible, that 
the skeptic can easily convince himself of their 
truth. 

142. PSYCHOMETRY APPLIED. 

As previously stated, the reading of letters is not 
its only application. It is a good barque for the 
historian and antiquarian, carrying them down the 
stream of time, where the written account becomes 



1 86 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

confused and contradictory. How interesting would 
be the true character of Alexander, Caesar, or Napo- 
leon, obtained in this manner, free from the preju- 
dices of their biographers or their times ! The linen 
which shrouds the Egyptian mummy will yield a 
good delineation of the character of the class 
thought worthy to be embalmed. The relics from 
Herculaneum will give the character of Romans 
two thousand years ago. The character of those 
races that scattered mounds and fortifications over 
the American continent can be determined from 
their relics. 

Nor does susceptibility rest here. It takes the 
paleontologist by the hand, and leads him down 
through the carboniferous shales and sandstones, 
and, by the aid of the smallest organic remain, 
gives him a perfect description of the world in its 
various stages of growth and development, describ- 
ing the dark waters, the smoky atmosphere, and the 
huge and unique forms which peopled the ancient 
world. It revels amidst the extinct fauna and flora 
of the ages, and is the only method by which a cor- 
rect idea of the aspect of this planet in its infantile 
state can be gained. 

In magnetism, the aura reproduces the magnet- 
izer's thoughts in the magnetized : so the invisible 
aura of the manuscript reproduces the precise action 
of the brain by which it was produced, and conse- 
quently the same thoughts, more or less distinct in 
proportion to the impressibility of the psychome- 
trist. 



Animal Magnetism. 187 

This capability of a manuscript or a lock of hair 
to yield the character of the writer or owner is anal- 
ogous to the phosphorescence of bodies exposed to 
light. When the sun shines on some substances, 
they will continue to shine for a length of time after 
the sun has withdrawn. They, as it were, partake 
of the nature of the sun. 

Not that the individual while performing the ex- 
periments is magnetized ; no trace of this can be 
discovered : but as it succeeds best with those who 
are easily influenced, and whose organs of impress- 
ibility are large and active, it must be admitted 
that the mind is influenced in precisely the same 
manner, though not to the same degree. The 
two influences are identical in their nature, vary- 
ing only in quantity. In one, the whole energies 
of the mind are employed ; while, in the other, the 
influence of a scrap of writing is all that can be 
used. 

This is proved by an impressible person placing 
his hand upon the head of one whose character he 
wishes to delineate, and the influence will be felt 
sooner and with greater intensity than from an 
autograph. Impressibility is the best delineator. It 
enters into the depth of the mind, lays bare all its 
thoughts and emotions, and, from this deep, pene- 
trating gaze, understands Man. It recognizes the 
mind itself, and hence can better give the methods 
of its just control. 

As spiritual susceptibility increases, the influences 



1 88 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

of the stars will be recognized ; and from the 
emanations of light, leaving their twinkling orbs 
millions of ages ago, their history and composition 
will be determined. 



143. Likes and Dislikes. 

Impressibility may become so intense as to be 
very annoying. The spirit is constantly bruised by 
conflicting emanations. So great sometimes are the 
shocks thus received as to lead to disastrous results. 
Our likes and dislikes of persons, places, or objects, 
for which we can assign no reason, may be thus 
accounted for. 

"In the town of North Walsham, Norfolk, 1788, 
the ' Fair Penitent ' was performed. In the last 
act, when Caliste lays her hand on the skull, a Mrs. 
Berry, who played the part, was seized with an 
involuntary shuddering, and fell on the stage. Dur- 
ing the night, her illness continued ; but the follow- 
ing day, when sufficiently recovered to converse, she 
sent for the stage-keeper, and anxiously inquired 
where he procured the skull. He replied from the 
sexton, who informed him it was the skull of one 
Norris, a player, who, twelve years before, was 
buried in the graveyard. That same Norris was 
her first husband. She died in six weeks." 

She was highly susceptible, and the shock pro- 
duced by the influence from the skull, recognized 
by her to be so like that of her former husband, 
was too great for her to bear. 



Animal Magnetism. 189 

144. Application to Fortune-telling. 

Fortune-telling is an application of psychometry. 
It is easy for an impressible person to take another's 
hand, and narrate the events of their past lives. In 
this, fortune-tellers generally succeed. If highly 
impressible, they may receive intuitions of the fu- 
ture. There are many remarkable instances on 
record of persons who at once read the past lives 
of those with whom they come in contact, among 
whom the celebrated German author, Zschokke, is 
perhaps most conspicuous. He writes of himself as 
follows : — 

" ' What demon inspires you ? Must I again be- 
lieve in possession ? ' exclaimed the spiritual Johann 
Von Riga, when, after the first hour of his acquaint- 
ance, I related his past life to him, with the avowed 
object of learning whether or not I deceived myself. 
We speculated long on the enigma ; but even his 
penetration could not solve it. Not another word 
about this strange seer gift, which I can aver was 
of no use to me in a single instance ; which mani- 
fested itself occasionally only, and quite independ- 
ently of my volition, and often in relation to persons 
in whose history I took not the slightest interest. 
Nor am I the only one in possession of this faculty. 
In a journey, I met an old Tyrplese. He fixed his 
eyes on me for some time, joined in the conversa- 
tion, observed, that, though I did not know him, he 
knew me, and began to describe my acts and deeds, 
to the no little amazement of the peasants, and as- 



190 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

tonishment of my children, whom it interested to 
learn that another possessed the same gift as their 
father. 

" I myself had less confidence than any one in 
this mental jugglery. So often as I revealed my 
visionary gifts to any new person, I regularly ex- 
pected to hear the answer, i It was not so ! ' I felt 
a secret shudder when my auditors replied that it 
was true, or when their astonishment betrayed my 
accuracy before they spoke. Instead of many, I will 
mention one example, which pre-eminently astound- 
ed me. One fair day, in the city of Waldshut, I 
entered an inn (The Vine) in company with two 
young student-foresters. We were tired of ramb- 
ling through the woods. We supped, with a numer- 
ous company, at the table d'hote, where the guests 
were making very merry with the peculiarities and 
eccentricities of the Swiss, with Mesmers magnet- 
ism, Lavaters physiognomy, &c, &c. One of my 
companions, whose national pride was wounded by 
their mockery, begged me to make some reply, par- 
ticularly to a handsome young man who sat opposite 
to us, and who had allowed himself extraordinary 
license. This man's former life was presented to 
my mind. I turned to him, and asked him whether 
he would answer me candidly if I related to him 
some of the most secret passages of his life, I know- 
ing as little of him, personally, as he did of me. 
That would be going a little farther, I thought, than 
Lavater did with physiognomy. He promised, if I 
were correct in my information, to admit it frankly* 



Animal Magnetism. 191 

I then related what my vision had shown me, and 
the whole company were made acquainted with the 
private history of the young merchant, — his school 
years, his youthful errors, and, lastly, with a fault 
committed in reference to the strong-box of his 
principal. I described to him the uninhabited room, 
with whitened walls, where, to the right of the brown 
door, on a table, stood a black money-box, &c. 

" A silence prevailed during the whole narration, 
which I alone occasionally interrupted by inquiring 
whether I spoke the truth. The startled young 
man confirmed every particular, and even, what I 
scarcely expected, the last circumstance. Touched 
by his candor, I shook hands with him over the 
table, and disclosed no more. He asked my name, 
which I gave him ; and we remained together, talk- 
ing, till past midnight." 

145. Animal Magnetism as a Curative Agent. 

Magnetism has been from earliest ages* and 
among all races, employed in the cure of disease. 
The practice of rubbing or pressing or squeezing 
the limbs of a person suffering under pain or weari- 
ness is carried to a great extent in India. Even 
among the lower orders, the wife may often be seen 
employed in this soothing avocation, to the great 
relief of her fatigued husband. Females practice it 
professionally in most of the principal bazaars ; and 
there are but few men or women of rank or opu- 
lence who are not subjected to the operation before 



192 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

they can procure sleep. Such is the fact. The mind 
of the operator is mesmerically fixed on the body 
of the patient, with the hope and view of removing 
pain ; and, by a series of the most powerful and 
continued grasping of the hands (used as indices to 
the will), this object is ultimately accomplished." 

The cure which I shall now relate could not in 
.any conceivable manner, nor with any candor, be 
attributed to the effects of imagination. It can only 
be explained by the action of mesmerism. 

"The wife of one of my grooms, a robust woman, 
the mother of a large family of young infants, all 
living within my grounds, was bitten by a poison- 
ous serpent, most probably by a cobra or coluber 
naja, and quickly felt the deadly effects of its 
venom. When the woman's powers were rapidly 
sinking, the servants came to my wife, to request 
that the civil surgeon of the station (Bareilly in 
Rohilcund), Dr. Grimes, might be called to save 
her life. He immediately attended, and most read- 
ily exerted his utmost skill ; but in vain. In the 
usual time, the woman appeared to be lifeless ; and 
he therefore left, acknowledging that he could not 
be of any further service. 

" On his reaching my bungalow, some of my ser- 
vants stated, that, in the neighborhood, a fakir, or 
wandering medicant, resided who could charm away 
the bites of snakes, and begged, if the doctor had 
no objection, that they might be permitted to send 
for him. He answered, 'Yes, of course : if the peo- 
ple would feel any consolation by his coming, they 



A nimal Magnetism. 193 

could bring him ; but the woman is dead/ After a 
considerable lapse of time, the magician arrived, and 
commenced his magical incantations. 

" I was not present at the scene : but it occurred 
in my park, and within a couple of hundred yards 
of my bungalow ; and I am quite confident that any 
attempt to employ medicines wo^d have been quite 
useless, as the woman's powers were utterly ex- 
hausted, although her body was still warm. The 
fakir sat down at her side, and began to wave his 
arm over her body, at the same time uttering a 
charm ; and he continued this process until she 
awoke from her insensibility, which was within a 
quarter of an hour." 

146. Use of Prayer. 

Many miraculous cures are recorded, seemingly 
granted to the voice of fervent prayer. The expla- 
nation of such cures requires no miraculous interpo- 
sition. A person actuated by blind faith, by prayer, 
concentrates his mind to a degree it is possible for 
him to do by no other method. His magnetic power 
is intensified, and directed on the patient. In this 
manner, prayer becomes a magnetic process ; and the 
cure follows necessarily, not from any foreign inter- 
position, but as an effect of an adequate cause. By 
thus accounting for the benefit sometimes derived 
from prayer, I by no means would be understood as 
referring all so-called miracles to that cause. Super- 
stition, credulity, and design, have their full share in 
their production. 
13 



194 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

147. Magnetic Healing among Savages. 

This magnetic power is not unknown even to 
savage people ; and they have, although ignorant of 
the law, complied with the essential conditions of 
magnetic induction. Thus the Indians of Oregon 
produce the trance by songs, incantations, and 
passes of the hand. The Dakotahs made the same 
manipulations ; and, at a given moment, the novice 
was struck on the breast lightly, when he "would 
fall prostrate on his face, his muscles rigid, and 
quivering in every fibre." 

The trance thus induced was lightly clairvoyant. 
Capt. Carver says that a medicine-man correctly 
prophecied the arrival of a canoe-load of provisions 
to his starving tribe. Such was the faith reposed 
in his prevision, that, at the appointed time, the 
village assembled to welcome the canoe, which 
arrived exactly at the mentioned hour. 

The magnetic process of cure resembles the trans- 
fusion of blood from healthy veins to those which 
are exhausted. New life and vigor is transferred by 
means of nervous influence. The same may be 
said of spirit magnetism, transfused through medi- 
umistic influence. 



148. The Application to Spirit-Communion. 

A spirit, when controlling a medium, is governed 
by the same laws as the mortal magnetizer. It is 
for this reason that the resulting phenomena are 



Animal Magnetism. 195 

mixed ; and it becomes difficult to distinguish, in 
partially developed mediums, between the magnet- 
ism of the circle and that of the spirit attempting 
control. The utmost caution is requisite to prevent 
self-deception. If the medium is in the peculiar 
susceptible condition usual to the early stage of 
development, he will simply reflect the mind of the 
circle ; and what purports to be a spiritual commu- 
nication will be only an echo of their own minds. 

The state which renders the medium passive to 
a spirit renders him passive to mortal influence in 
the same degree ; and, from the similarity of all 
magnetic influences, it is difficult to distinguish 
spirit from mortal. Circles often, in this manner, 
deceive themselves by their own positiveness. They 
repel the approach of celestial messengers, and sub- 
stitute the echoes of their own thoughts. They find 
contradiction and confusion, which they compla- 
cently refer to "evil spirits." Tread lightly and 
carefully this path, O lover of truth ! for many are 
the by-ways of error. 

Nothing canbe gained to the cause of truth by 
misstatement, or exaggerating the importance of one 
fact to the detriment of another. Honest investiga- 
tors of Spiritualism, coming to the task without 
previous • knowledge of animal magnetism, refer 
every phenomenon they meet to spiritual agency, 
when it is probable that at least one-half of all they 
observe is of a purely mundane source. So far as 
healing by laying-on of hands is concerned, it has 
been shown to be of ancient date, and explainable 



196 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

by organic laws. There is no reason why a magnet- 
izer should not cure disease, and relieve pain, as well 
as a disembodied spirit ; and the probabilities of suc- 
cess are in his favor. If a spirit perform such 
cures, it is unquestionably by and through the same 
means. 

All that we said at the commencement of this 
chapter, in regard to the selfish charlatanism of mag- 
netizers, is equally true of spirit-healing. Good, true, 
and honest men there are whose nervous systems 
are strengthened by invisible friends to relieve suf- 
fering ; but Spiritualism is brought to the very dust 
by the actions of others. The worst forms of empir- 
icism, quackery, and humbug, are loudly advertised 
and extolled in its sacred name. The foul brood that 
were fostered in the field of animal magnetism 
almost bodily adopted the new and more startling 
system. They have brought shame to the hearts 
of true Spiritualists. 

149. Let us not be Misunderstood. 

Our object is to draw a sharp line between phe- 
nomena really of spirit-origin, and those referable to 
mortal action. We may possibly discard a half or 
two-thirds of all manifestations alleged to be spirit- 
ual ; but the remainder will be all the more valuable. 
A cause is not strengthened by a mountain of irrel- 
evant facts, but, rather, weakened. The refutation 
of a few of these is oft-times taken for the overthrow 
of all. 






A nimal Magnetism. 197 

150. A Safe Rule 

Is to refer nothing to spirits which can be accounted 
for by mortal means. Thus sifted, those that re- 
main are of real value to the skeptic and the inves- 
tigator. 

Man in the body is a spirit as well as when freed 
from it. As a spirit, he is amenable to the same 
laws. The magnetic state may be self-induced, or 
inducted by a mortal or a spirit magnetizer. This 
is true of all its manipulations, whether in somnam- 
bulism, trance, or clairvoyance. 

Fully recognizing this fact, it will be seen how 
exceedingly liable the observer is to mistake these 
influences. 

When a circle is formed, and one of its members 
is affected by nervous spasms, it does not necessa- 
rily follow that such member is spiritually controlled. 
That cannot be certainly predicted until a spirit has 
identified its control. It is only by thus testing 
the phenomena, that a sound and accurate knowl- 
edge of spiritual laws can be gained. It may please 
the marvelous to refer to one source all manifesta- 
tions, from the involuntary contraction of a muscle, 
the removing of pain by laying-on of hands, the inco- 
herencies of a sensitive entranced by the overpower- 
ing influence of the circle, to the genuine impressions 
of spiritual beings ; but it will not satisfy the demands 
of science, which ultimately will seek to co-ordinate 
all facts and phenomena. 



IX. 



SPIRIT ITS PHENOMENA AND LAWS. 

The ethereal regions are like a populous city, filled with immortal spirits,- 
as numerous as stars in the firmament. — Philo. 

Shall we know our friends again ? For my own part, I cannot doubt it ; 
least of all when I drop a tear over their recent dust. Death does not 
separate us from them here: can life in heaven do it? — Theodore 
Parker. 

When a man is dead, the flesh and the bones are left to be consumed by 
the flames j but the soul flies away like a dream. — Shade of Anti- 
clea. 

151. Necessity of Immortality. 

HO, when the great thinkers of earth perish, 
can but exclaim with Goethe, when his friend 
Wieland died, " The destruction of such high pow- 
ers is something which can never, under any cir- 
cumstances, come in question " ? 

" Who builds on less than man's immortal base, 
Fond as he seems, condemns his joys to death." 

An old author observes, " The very nerve and sinew 
of religion is hope of immortality." It enters into 
the fountain from which flow the great and exalted 
deeds of patriots, martyrs, thinkers, and saints. It 
elevates above the shadows of mortal life, showing 
that there is nothing real except in the eternal, and 




Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 199 

that the gratifications of the delights and passions 
of the present life are unworthy of an immortal 
being. This belief at once lifts the soul out of 
the slough of selfishness, and directs it to mag- 
nanimity and virtue. The various religious sys- 
tems of the world, while based on, and seeking 
to unfold, this grand idea, offer little consolation 
to the reflecting mind. They yield no broad, uni- 
versal philosophy in which we can feel secure, ab- 
solutely know that we shall exist in the beyond, 
and breathe the power and beatitudes of that exist- 
ence. This is not written in disparagement of 
any of the countless religious sects. They are not 
useless in the economy of progress ; but they have 
most signally failed in producing a philosophical and 
consistent system of immortal life. They all set out 
with the mistaken idea that heaven is to be gained 
by belief in certain creeds, and the admission of 
certain dogmas ; whereas, if man is immortal, im- 
mortality is conferred on him as the highest aim of 
creative energy, admitting of no mistakes. His 
spiritual state must surpass his mortal, which is 
its prototype ; extending, and carrying on to con- 
summation, the outline sketched in mortal life. We 
exist — how or why, we cannot determine ; and we 
can no more blot out our existence than that of 
the stars of heaven. What is the logical deduction 
from this fact ? That the emotions, affections, and 
culture of this existence cannot be lost. The least 
fraction of our existence cannot be eliminated or 
destroyed. 



200 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

152. Eternal Progress of Spirit. 

What follows ? That the imperfect attempts of 
this life will be perfected in the next, which is the 
reality of which this is only the shadow. Whether 
we die drawing our first living breath, or after a full 
century, has not the least weight in final growth and 
development of the spirit. Eternal progress is writ- 
ten in the constitution of nature ; and man, as a 
spirit, embodies every law of progress. Whether 
as a spirit clad in flesh, or as a spirit in the angel 
realm, he is amenable to the same laws, and by pre- 
cisely similar methods. 



153. Failure of Religious Theories. 

It is here that the theories of sects utterly fail, 
and the reflecting mind pauses in doubt. They 
fail because they do not grasp the wants of the 
human soul, that rebels against the doctrine of 
reward and punishment, asking, Why not live on, 
working out, each for himself, his own individual 
destiny ? It feels a sense of deep injustice, of 
gigantic, blundering mistake, in any other idea of 
its future* 



154. Does Spiritualism meet this Demand? 

We can only determine after a close and careful 
investigation of its facts and philosophy. This 
research must not be in the subdued light of a 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 201 

cringing fear of the supernatural and miraculous, 
but guided by the umimpeachable evidence of posi- 
tive knowledge. 

We are deeply conscious of our pretensions when 
we set at defiance the high authorities of the 
schools, and not only affirm the inter-communion 
of the spheres, but attempt the reduction of the 
entire domain of ghosts, witches, demons, familiar 
spirits, prophecy, — in short, the spiritual realm, — 
to the supremacy of law, and assert over its conflict- 
ing elements the most austere positivism. The 
sciences concentrate here ; and all are hewn col- 
umns and arches in the spiritual temple, whose 
foundations rest on the hard, elemental basis of the 
material world, and whose towers pierce the blue 
empyrean of heaven. 

155. What is Spirit? 

Ages before the shepherd kings laid the founda- 
tions of the pyramids, or strove to express their 
innate ideas of the immortal in sphinx and temple, 
man asked, " What is spirit ? " This question has 
perplexed philosophers in all ages ; and, the greater 
their acumen, the more widely have they deserted 
the path of truth, and consigned themselves to the 
bewildering maze of speculation ; and, to-day, the 
churches representing the concrete Spiritualism of 
the past can give no satisfactory answer. 

Spirit, according to the lexicon, is " the intelli- 
gent, immaterial, immortal nature of man." Can 



\ 



202 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

intelligence exist without materiality ? Can nothing 
think, feel, reflect? You might as well talk of 
music existing in the air, after the destruction of 
the instrument which gave it birth, as of a thought 
standing out disrobed of matter. Matter, according 
to this definition, is that which is cognizable by 
form, color, extension, to the senses : spirit, used in 
contradistinction, is the opposite. It has no exten- 
sion, and is not cognizable by the senses. Can a 
better definition be given of nonentity ? 

If there are spiritual beings, the fact of their 
existence proves that they are composed of matter ; 
for an effect cannot spring from nothing. If intelli- 
gence could exist " detached," that existence could 
never be made manifest. Through and by matter 
only can any effect occur. 

156. Spiritual Beings, — of what Composed. 

The material of which such beings are composed 
we may not understand. It is different from the 
matter with which we are acquainted. The fault 
rests with us ; for it is impossible to comprehend 
that of which we have neither experience nor name. 
The speculations of a caterpillar on its butterfly state 
would be as pertinent. Feeding on acrid leaves, 
and, perhaps, never leaving the branches which 
yield it support, how can it comprehend the nec- 
tar of flowers, and coursing over the plains with 
the winds ? O man ! the glory of the immortal as 
vastly transcends the mortal ! Await, groveling 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 203 

worm ! wind a cocoon around you, and the sun in 
the genial spring will resurrect you a winged spirit 
of the air. Await, O man, the hour that enshrouds 
your mortal body ; and the warmth of angel-love will 
awake you to spirit-life. 

157. What is the Origin of Spirit? 

Theologians inform us that it is from God, and, 
at death, returns to God who gave it. This solu- 
tion presupposes the eternal existence of spirits, that 
they exist ready made, awaiting bodies to be devel- 
oped that they may inhabit them; and that therefore 
the earth-life is a probationary state. The history 
of this theory would be extremely interesting, for it 
is woven through the tissue of received theology ; 
but, in its beginning, we should find it a myth, 
early taking root in the childish minds of primitive 
men. From a conjecture, it has become a dogma. 
It ignores the rule of law, and makes the birth of 
every individual a direct miracle. 

158. Pre-existence. 

Where and how does the spirit exist before enter- 
ing the particular human body from which it ascends 
to heaven, or descends to hell, granting the forego- 
ing view ? A school of philosophers have solved 
the question by supposing that it passes through 
successive organisms countless times. This is a 
very old idea, and is received at present in almost 



204 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

its original form, as advocated by the Pythagorean 
and Platonic schools, by many Spiritualists. There 
are those who think they can distinctly recollect 
passages in their previous existence ; who honestly 
believe that they remember when they animated 
various animals. It was so in ancient time. 

" Some draught of Lethe doth await, 
As old mythologies relate, 
The slipping through from state to state." 

But memory is not always silenced. Sometimes 
the potent draught is not sufficiently powerful ; and 
then we decipher the mystic lines of some of our 
previous states : — 

" And ever something is or seems, 
That touches us with mystic gleams, 
Like glimpses of forgotten dreams." 

Plato regarded this life as only a recognized 
moment between two eternities, the past and the 
future. Innate ideas and the sentiment of pre- 
existence prove our past. To Plato, representative 
as he was of the highest attainments of ancient 
thought, such might be satisfactory evidence ; but 
to us, with the knowledge we possess of physiology 
and of the brain, they are of no value. The double 
structure and double action of the brain, by which 
impressions are simultaneously produced on the 
mind, fully explain the sentiment of pre-existence. 
For if these impressions, by any means, are not 
simultaneously produced, the mind becomes con- 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 205 

fused, and the weakest impression is referred to 
the past.* 

Beautiful as these dreams appear, we are brought 
back from their contemplation to the less pleasing, 
stern, and rugged highlands of science, where, 
though fewer flowers bloom beneath our feet, the 
ground is firmer, and our possessions more sure. 
These dreams are beautiful ; but they are only 
dreams, undefined actions of the mind, whereby it 
embodies its fancies, and mistakes them for realities. 
They are as valuable as the vagaries produced by 
opium or hasheesh, and no more. We vainly ask, 
" Why do we lose consciousness of our states ? Is 
our earth-life a dream -life ? Can we never know the 
actual ? " 

The indelibility of ideas and impressions held by 
mental philosophers is a strong argument against 
pre-existence, and it really has no scientific support. 
(§ 182.) It is a pleasing speculation, but necessi- 
tates a miracle at the birth of every human being. 
A detached spirit, though a germ, becomes clad 
with flesh. There is no fixed order or conceivable 
law by which such an event could occur. This 
mortal state is not preferable ; for the spirit con- 
stantly desires to escape it. Is it forced by God to 
undergo this metempsychosis ? Does it do so from 
choice ? In such event, the growth of man becomes 
entirely different from that of animals ; but we know 
that he is subject to the same laws as they are. 

* See Prof. Draper's "Physiology," where this point is ably 
discussed ; also his " Intellectual Development of Europe." 



206 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

Or shall we say that they, too, are flesh-clad spirits ? 
Grant this, and we are lost in an ocean of myth. 
From the animalcule, with its body formed of a 
single cell, to the barnacle-clad leviathan ; from en- 
tozoa to the elephant, — all are incarnate spirits. 
There then is no law of development, no unity of 
organic forms ; or else on this progressive growth 
and unity a new and extraneous force is exerted, 
without use or purpose. Creation becomes an ever- 
present miracle ; or, if we refer this scheme to fixed 
laws in the spiritual realm, we but transpose the 
causes we see acting in the physical world into the 
spiritual, when they are at once beyond our recog- 
nition. 

The individualized man stands before us. He, 
as a mortal being, had a beginning. We date 
that by years at his birth. What reason have we 
for not dating the origin of his spirit at his birth 
also ? If man exists for the purpose of the evolu- 
tion of an immortal spirit, the contemporary birth 
and development of body and spirit is a self-evi- 
dent truth. 



159. Man is a Dual Structure of Spirit and 

Body. 

The physical body, by its senses, is brought in 
contact with the physical world. It is the basis on 
which the spiritual rests. Though the spiritual body 
pertain to the spiritual universe, yet the most inti- 
timate relations exist between these two natures : 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 207 

earthly existence depends on their harmony, and 
death is simply their separation. 

Such is the doctrine of the Bible ; and it was so 
interpreted by the holy fathers. Paul, that profound 
thinker, speaks as follows, in words identical with 
those of modern Spiritualism : — 

" Some men will say, How are the dead raised, 
and with what bodies do they come ? God giveth a 
body, as pleaseth him. So also is the resurrection 
of the dead. It is sown in corruption : it is raised 
in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor : it is raised 
in glory. It is sown in weakness : it is raised in 
power. It is sown a natural body : it is raised a 
spiritual body." 

St. Augustine interpreted this doctrine by an 
anecdote. 

" Our brother, Sennardius, well known to us all 
as an eminent physician, and whom we especially 
love, who is now at Carthage, after having distin- 
guished himself at Rome, and with whose active 
piety and benevolence you are well acquainted, 
could not nevertheless, as he related to us, bring 
himself to believe in life after death. One night 
there appeared to him, in a dream, a radiant youth 
of noble aspect, who bade him follow him ; and, as 
Sennardius obeyed, they came to a city, where, on 
the right, he heard a chorus of most heavenly voices. 
As he desired to know whence this heavenly har- 
mony proceeded, the youth told him that what he 
heard were songs of the blessed ; whereupon he 
awoke, and thought no more of his dream than peo- 



208 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

pie usually do. On another night, the youth ap- 
pears to him again, and asks him if he knows him ; 
and Sennardius told him all the particulars of his 
dream, which he well remembered. ' Then/ said 
the youth, 'was it while sleeping or waking you 
saw these things?' — 'I was sleeping/ answered 
Sennardius. ' You are right/ replied the youth : ' it 
was in your sleep that you saw these things ; and 
know, O Sennardius, that what you see now is also 
in your sleep. But, if this be so, tell me then where 
is your body ? ' — 'In my bed-chamber/ answered 
Sennardius. 'But know you not/ continued the 
youth, 'that your eyes, which form a part of your 
body, are closed and inactive ? ' — 'I know it/ an- 
swered he. ' Then,' said the youth, ' with what eyes 
see you these things ? ' And Sennardius could not 
answer him ; and, as he hesitated, the youth spoke 
again, and explained the motive of his question. 
'As the eyes of your body/ said he, ' which lies now 
in bed, and sleeps, are inactive and useless, and yet 
you have eyes wherewith you see me and those 
things which I have shown you, so, after death, 
when these bodily organs fail you, you will have a 
vital power whereby you will live, and a sensitive 
faculty whereby you will perceive. Doubt therefore, 
no longer, that there is life after death.' " * 

This episode illustrates a great truth. Man is 
dual, — a spirit and a body blended into a unit : the 
body relating to the external world by the senses ; 
the spirit taking cognizance of the spiritual world 

* See "Arcana of Nature," vol. ii. 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 209 

through its spiritual perceptions. The spirit is the 
companion of the body ; and, as long as the two 
remain united, it perceives the relation of the exter- 
nal world through and by the aid of the corporeal 
senses. So much is the spirit concealed by the 
physical body, so intimately are they blended, that 
it is with difficulty its existence is perceived.* 



160. The Spirit retains the Faculties it pos- 
sessed while on Earth. 

Plutarch well observes, in the strict spirit of induc- 
tive philosophy, that, if demons and protecting spirits 
are disembodied souls, we ought not to doubt that 
those spirits inhabiting the body will possess the 
same faculties they now enjoy, since we have no rea- 
son to suppose that any new faculties are conferred 
at the period of dissolution : such faculties must be 
considered as inherent, though obscured or latent. 
The sun does not for the first time shine when it 
breaks from behind a cloud ; so the spirit, when it 
first throws aside the body, does not then acquire 
the faculties which are supposed to characterize it, 
but they are then only freed from the obscurations 
of the mortal state, as the sun is from the fetters of 
the cloud. 

* The threefold division of body, soul, and spirit, is of very 
ancient date. Philo represents man as a threefold being, 
having a rational soul, an animal soul, and a body. As the 
term " soul " represents nothing but a fancy, it is here dis- 
carded. 



210 Arcana of Spirihtalism. 

The physical body evolves the spiritual being. In 
individualized spirit, creative nature culminates. In- 
dividualization of spirit can take place in no other 
manner. The most exalted angel once was clothed 
in flesh ; and through the flesh only can such exist- 
ence be obtained. 

161. Is there Positive Evidence? 

Are there facts to prove these statements that are 
so dear to the heart ? Can it be proved that the 
spirit exists freed from the physical body ? Aside 
from the facts of spirit-intercourse, the question can 
be answered by the phenomena presented while the 
spirit is confined to the body. Spirit-communion is 
the great and all-conclusive proof; but there is a 
border-land, over which we can journey to that 
ttltima thule of psychological philosophy. 

162. The Field almost Unexplored. 

In this vast and untrodden domain, we tread the 
boundaries between materiality and spirituality. We 
gain glimpses, as it were, of the energy of the refined 
principles which actuate and vivify the world, and 
yet remain unseen and unknown. Here we reach 
the borders of the forces which control materiality, 
and as yet are not understood. 

Science has recorded scarcely a fact to assist the 
explorer. Scientists scoff and sneer at those who 
rise above the husks of their technicalities. What 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 2 1 1 

can they teach ? Nothing. They are content with 
empiricisms. They attempt a solution of spiritual 
relations ! they deny their existence ! They fail in 
the solution of much less difficult problems. Why 
opium or tobacco or alcohol produce their several 
effects ; why certain sounds are agreeable, and oth- 
ers disagreeable ; why certain forms are pleasing, and 
others the reverse, — they know not ; and so intent 
are they with making accurate record of the facts, 
that they overlook the object for which these facts 
stand. 

163. Between Wakefulness, and the Deep 
Unconsciousness preceding Death, there is 
a gradual transition. 

The interval has been divided by authors into 
stages or degrees ; but in an arbitrary manner, and 
without subserving any end, except to confuse the 
minds of their readers. There are no lines of de- 
marcation between the various hypothetical divis- 
ions ; and there is no need of any in pursuing 
investigation. The magnetic state, as manifested 
in sleep, becomes somnambulism, or deepens into 
clairvoyance. The phenomena presented by these 
states or degrees are resultants of one common 
law, and are intricately blended. 

164. The Magnetic State, 

In its approach, may perchance be confounded with 
natural sleep. The spirit is dormant and unconscious. 



212 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

4 

When it deepens, the mind awakens in a new, spir- 
itual life : its faculties become exalted, and its sensi- 
tiveness intensified. A distinguished writer lucidly 
describes this state. 

" Sometimes, however, there is said to supervene 
a coma ; at others, exaltation, depression, or some 
anomalous modification of sensibility ; and occasion- 
ally a state somewhat approaching to that of revery, 
wherein the individual, although conscious, feels in- 
capable of independent exertion, and spell-bound, as 
it were, to a particular train of thought or feeling. 
The occurrence of muscular action, and of muscular 
rigidity, is described as taking place in some in- 
stances to a greater or less extent. These results 
are said to constitute the simpler phenomena of 
mesmerism. We shall illustrate them by some ex- 
tracts from accredited writers upon the subject. 

" In this peculiar state of sleep, the surface of the 
body is sometimes acutely sensitive ; but more fre- 
quently the sense of feeling is absolutely annihilated. 
The jaws are firmly locked, and resist every effort to 
wrench them open; the joints are often rigid, and 
the limbs inflexible ; and not only is the sense of 
feeling, but the senses of smell, hearing, and sight 
also, are so deadened to all external impressions, 
that no pungent odor, loud report, or glare of light, 
can excite them in the least degree. The body may 
be pinched, pricked, lacerated, or burned ; fumes of 
concentrated liquid ammonia may be passed up the 
nostrils ; the loudest reports suddenly made close to 
the ear ; dazzling and intense light may be thrown 



Spirit" — its Phenomena and Laws. 213 

upon the pupil of the eye : yet so profound is the 
physical state of lethargy that the sleeper will re- 
main undisturbed, and insensible to tortures that in 
the waking state would be intolerable." 



165. Testimony of Iamblichus. 

lamblichus, a philosopher of the Alexandrian 
school, thus describes the state that philosophers, 
by the practice of theurgy, could arrive at ; showing 
a perfect understanding of what is now called the 
superior or magnetic state. " The senses were in a 
sleeping state. The theurgist had no command of 
his faculties, no consciousness of what he said or did. 
He was insensible to fire or any bodily injury. Car- 
ried by a divine impulse, he went through impass- 
able places without knowing where he was. A 
divine illumination took full possession of the man ; 
absorbed all his faculties, motions, and senses,— 
making him speak what he did not understand, or 
rather seem to speak it ; for he was, in fact, merely 
the minister or instrument of the gods who pos- 
sessed him." A more correct description of the in- 
terior state cannot be found in any work on that 
subject. 

166. Tertullian 

Describes one of the inspired sisters of the Monta- 
nists, a sect of the second century believing in the 
direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 

" There is a sister among us endued with the gift 



214 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

of revelation by an ecstacy of spirit, which she suf- 
fers in church during the time of divine service. 
She converses with angels, and sometimes also with 
the Lord. She sees and hears mysteries, knows 
the hearts of some, and prescribes medicines for 
those who need them." 

167. Insensibility of the Magnetic State. 

The senses in the magnetic state are more pro- 
foundly insensible than in sleep. It has, in conse- 
quence, often been employed to alleviate pain ; and 
unconsciously it is employed by every nurse and 
physician. Facts are here introduced, more for the 
purpose of illustration than proof, though they serve 
both purposes. Those first produced have a partic- 
ular significance, as they relate to patients who did 
not understand the manipulations, — patients sev- 
ered, by race and speech, from the distinguished 
physician who relates them. 

168. Experiments in India by Esdaille. 

His first experiment was made on Madhab Kanra, 
who was suffering intensely from a severe surgical 
operation. In three-quarters of an hour, after he 
began making passes over him, he exclaimed, " I 
was his father, and his mother had given him life 
again." " The same process was persevered in ; and 
in about an hour he began to gape, said he must 
sleep, that his senses were gone, and his replies 
became incoherent. He opened his eyes when 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 215 

ordered, but said he only saw smoke, and could 
distinguished no one. His eyes were quite lustre- 
less ; and the lids opened heavily. All appearance 
of pain now disappeared ; his hands were crossed on 
his breast, instead of being pressed on the groins ; 
and his countenance showed the most perfect re- 
pose. He now took no notice of our questions ; and 
I called loudly on him by name without attracting 
any notice. 

" I now pinched him without disturbing him ; and 
then, asking for a pin in English, I desired my as- 
sistant to watch him narrowly, and drove it into the 
small of his back. It produced no effect whatever ; 
and my assistant repeated it at intervals in different 
places as uselessly. 

" Fire was then applied to his knee, without his 
shrinking in the least ; and liquid ammonia, that 
brought tears into our eyes in a moment, was inhaled 
some minutes without causing an eyelid to quiver. 
This seemed to have revived him a little, as he 
moved his head shortly afterward ; and I asked him 
if he wanted to drink. He only gaped in reply ; and 
I took the opportunity to give, slowly, a mixture of 
ammonia so strong that I could not bear to taste it. 
This he drank like milk, and gaped for more. As 
the i experimentum cruris} I lifted his head, and 
placed his face, which was directed to the ceiling all 
this time, in front of a full light, opened his eyes, 
one after the other, but without producing any effect 
upon the iris. His eyes were exactly like an amau- 
rotic person's ; and all noticed their lack-lustre ap- 



216 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

pearance. We were all now convinced that total 
insensibility of all the senses existed." 

This experiment is interesting ; for it' shows that 
the magnetic state can be produced without mental 
sympathy ; that the consent of the parties is not 
necessary ; and hence that the result depends on 
purely physiological causes — a conclusion justified 
by the influence animals exert over each other, as 
serpents charming birds, &c. 

It furnishes another interesting reflection. The 
same effects are produced in India as among our- 
selves : latitude and climate have not the slightest 
influence. 

169. Magnetic Practice may or may not Ex- 
haust the Operator. 

After operating on patients, the magnetizer may 
or may not feel exhausted, depending on his mag- 
netic endurance ; but the most enduring will, after a 
continuous exercise in treating disease, become de- 
pressed, and temporarily weaken in his power. If 
the patient be very susceptible, and the operator the 
reverse, he will be able to induce important results 
without any effect on himself. If, on the contrary, 
he be impressible, he will suffer from exhaustion. 
This will be still greater if he treat a disease under 
which he is himself suffering. If scrofulous, and he 
treat a case of that kind, he will surely aggravate 
his own malady : no degree of positiveness can avail 
against this danger. Every successive operation 
renders him more susceptible, and liable to imbibe 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 217 

the disease of his patient : in other words, he loses 
his resisting power. 

To produce the most striking and beneficial re- 
sults, the operator should be in vigorous health, and 
in a highly positive state. After operating, the in- 
fluence should be thrown off, by bathing the hands, 
and exercise in the open air. Those who are suf- 
fering from disease should never attempt to heal 
others by magnetism. 

170. Objects can be Magnetized. 

Deleuze first pronounced the fact that objects 
can be magnetically charged, and that, when sent 
to distant patients, they will produce the same 
effect as though the operator were present. This 
has given rise to repeated charges that it was 
mere imagination ; but it is, rather, a beautiful 
illustration of the law of magnetic transfer. Some 
substances absorb and retain this magnetism bet- 
ter than others ; and there is a wonderful corre- 
spondence between the mental and physical worlds, 
by which every emotion, passion, and faculty of the 
mind has its analogue in the material world. This 
analogy produces the strange and seemingly freak- 
ish regard we have for different substances. The 
precious stones, noble metals, amulets, &c, assume 
scientific relations ; for they represent certain facul- 
ties. Silver, gold, diamonds, and flowers are ad- 
mired because of the fundamental relations they 
sustain to the sympathies of the brain. 



218 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

171. Somnambulism. 

The mind of the sleep-walker is in a highly sensi- 
tive condition, being able to read the thoughts of 
others, however distant ; reading writing or print 
placed behind his head, and performing the most 
difficult feats of clairvoyants or magnetized subjects. 

In this state, the spirit becomes in a measure in- 
dependent of its corporeal form, and infinitely ex- 
panded. The senses are no longer windows of the 
soul ; but the mind sees and hears by some entirely 
new method, and becomes en rapport with the men- 
tal atmosphere of the world. 

The following facts are related by the philosopher 
Fishbough : — 

"When a boy, residing in Easton, Pa., we for a 
time roomed with a young man who was much sub- 
ject to fits of somnambulism. On one occasion, he 
was suddenly aroused to a consciousness of his situ- 
ation, and, as he informed us, for a moment, before 
he was restored entirely to his natural state, it was 
as * light as day/ and he could see minute objects 
with the utmost distinctness, though a moment 
afterwards he was obliged to grope his way in 
darkness to find his bed." 

Sunderland, in " Patheism," records a case of a 
Mr. Collins, of East Bloomfield, N. Y., " who, while 
asleep, would often arise, and write poetry and long 
letters in a room perfectly dark. He would make 
his lines straight, cross his t's, dot his i's, and make 
it perfectly legible. He seemed to be clairvoyant 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 219 

when in this state, and would often tell what a 
sister and brother-in-law were doing, and where 
they were, when several hundred miles off. . . . His 
statements, though many and often, were always 
found correct. This was in 1827." 

The following case, which has received extensive 
publicity in the journals of the day, is related on the 
authority of the archbishop of Bordeaux. A young 
clergyman was in the habit of rising from his bed, 
and writing his sermons, while in his sleep. When- 
ever he finished a page, he would read it aloud, 
and correct it. Once, in altering the expression, 
" ce devin enfant" he substituted the word "ador- 
able" for "devin;' and, observing that the word 
" adorable' (commencing with a vowel) required 
that " ce r ' before it should be changed into " cet? he 
accordingly added the " t." While he was writing, 
" the archbishop held a piece of paste-board under 
his chin to prevent him from seeing the paper on 
which he was writing ; but he wrote on, not at all 
incommoded. The paper on which he was writing 
was then removed, and another piece substituted ; 
but he instantly perceived the change. He also 
wrote pieces of music in this state, with his eyes 
closed. The words were under the music, and once 
were too large, and not placed exactly under the 
corresponding notes. He soon perceived the error, 
blotted out the part, and wrote it over again with 
great exactness." 

The case of Jane C. Rider, known as the Spring- 
field somnambulist, created, some years ago, much 



220 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

wonder and speculation among intelligent persons 
acquainted with the facts. I find the following 
account preserved in my notebook with a reference 
to the " Boston Medical and Surgical Journal," Vol. 
XL, Nos. 4 and 5 (which I have not now on hand), 
for more particular information. Miss Rider "would 
walk in her sleep, attend to domestic duties in the 
dark, and with her eyes bandaged ; would read in a 
dark room, and with cotton filled in her eye-sockets, 
and a thick black silk handkerchief tied over the 
whole. These things were witnessed by hundreds 
of respectable persons. She learned, without diffi- 
culty, to play at backgammon while in this state, 
and would generally beat her antagonist ; though, in 
her normal state, she knew nothing about the game, 
and remembered nothing whatever which occurred 
during her fits." 

A young lady, while at school, succeeded in her 
Latin exercises without devoting much time or at- 
tention apparently to the subject. At length the 
secret of her easy progress was discovered. She 
was observed to leave her room at night ; and, tak- 
ing her class-book, she proceeded to a certain place 
on the banks of a small stream, where she remained 
but a short time, and then returned to the house. 
In the morning, she was invariably unconscious of 
what had occurred during the night ; but a glance 
at the lesson of the day usually resulted in the dis- 
covery that it was already quite as familiar to her 
mind as household words. 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 221 

172. Are we more Wise when Asleep than 

when Awake ? 

How else account for the wonderful feats and 
extensive knowledge of the somnambulist ? We 
dwell more exclusively on the sleep-walker than on 
the magnetized subject, because he is free from the 
charge, that might be preferred against the latter, 
of being influenced by the will of an operator. He 
is free from any such bias ; and whatever he accom- 
plishes proceeds from himself, and represents the 
workings of his own spirit 



X, 



SPIRIT — ITS PHENOMENA AND LAWS (CONTINUED). 

I am well convinced, then, that my dear departed friends are so far from 
having ceased to live that the state they now enjoy can alone with pro- 
priety be called life. — Cicero. 

The essence of spirit is pure and eternal force. 

The ancients supposed the " rational soul" exercised the functions of the 
senses in its every part, being il all eye, all ear, all taste." 

173. Magnetism Intensifies the Spiritual Per- 
ceptions. 

WHEN the body is inanimate ; when the slug- 
gish flow of the blood is the only indication 
of life ; when the nerves have lost their sensation, 
and the senses are dead, — the somnambulist, like 
the clairvoyant, revels in a world of his own, and 
finds his new senses vastly superior to those that 
are dormant. 

The materialist says, " Look ! here is an eye : it is 
an organ of sight. Images are formed, on the retina, 
of external objects. Here is an ear : it is adjusted 
to the waves of sound." Images are formed on the 
retina after death, and there is no sight : they are 
formed equally well in a camera. Waves of sound 
vibrate on the ear, and yield no sound. The. eye, 
on the other hand, may be destroyed, its optic 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 223 

nerves withered, and still sight remain ; the ear 
destroyed, and yet hearing remain, — as illustrated 
by clairvoyance. There is something behind and 
beyond all these external organs, which sees, hears, 
and feels. Millions of vibrations reach it, through 
the sensitive brain, from the external world, —waves 
of light, heat, magnetism, electricity, nerve-aura, 
and sound ; but, where the physical avenues are all 
closed in a somnambulistic or clairvoyant sleep, it 
rises above them all. In that pure region the mind 
is most active, and grasps ideas as though robed 
in light, and becomes en rapport with the mental 
atmosphere of the universe. 

174. Not Imagination, 

Dr. Gregory has ably met the theory which ac- 
counts for clairvoyance and magnetism by the imagi- 
nation. 

" We have often seen persons in the mesmeric 
sleep who could see and describe correctly what was 
done behind them, or otherwise out of the range of 
their vision had their eyes been open, whereas their 
eyes were fast closed, and turned up, so that, when 
forced open, only the whites were visible, and more- 
over insensible to light. In other words, we have 
often seen and tested the fact of vision without the 
use of the external eye. This fact is observed in 
natural somnambulists, independent of artificial mag- 
netism. When a person with closed and insensible 
eyes perceives, both in the daylight and in the dark 



224 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

(and sleep-walkers often see better in the dark), the 
objects which surround him ; when his motions and 
actions are readier and more exact than in his wak- 
ing state ; nay, when he performs feats of climbing, 
keeping his balance in dangerous positions, writing, 
and doing various handiwork, which in his ordina- 
ry state are beyond his powers, — it is impossible 
either to ascribe this to imagination, or to doubt 
that he has a peculiar means of perception of exter- 
nal objects. And this implies some external influ- 
ence which finds its way to the sensorium commune. 
"We have seen mesmeric sleepers, without the 
slightest attempt to use their closed and insensible 
eyes, discover the contents of sealed packets and 
closed boxes, either by putting these on the head, 
or holding them in the hand, and sometimes by lay- 
ing them on the epigastrium. We have seen the 
contents, unknown to any one present, described 
with the utmost accuracy. In Major Buckley's 
remarkable experiments, upwards of a hundred high- 
ly educated persons have read mottoes inclosed 
in nuts and boxes, the nuts being procured at vari- 
ous shops, by different persons, who were totally 
ignorant of their contents. Hundreds of mottoes 
and thousands of words have been thus read ; and 
many of the readers have never been mesmerized at 
all, but have found themselves enabled to read the 
contents of the nuts, &c, by the aid of a light, which, 
when Major Buckley made passes over his own face, 
and perhaps over the nuts, rendered them transpar- 
ent to the readers. Can any one suppose that im- 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 225 

agination will explain these facts ? And is not the 
natural conclusion from them — namely, the exist- 
ence of an external influence — greatly fortified by 
the testimony of Major Buckley's subjects to the 
luminous emanations ? 

" We have seen the substance of the contents of 
a closed letter, unknown to ourselves, and the name 
of the writer, deciphered in an instant by a sleeper 
who placed it on her head, and who could not read. 
The letter had that moment arrived, and was totally 
unexpected ; and, as we were trying some experi- 
ments on the sleeper, we asked her, before looking 
at the letter, whether she could tell me anything 
about it. She gave me at once the whole substance 
of it with perfect accuracy. Whatever may have 
been the means by which she acquired this knowl- 
edge of its meaning, imagination at least was not 
concerned ; and the very remarkable nature of the 
letter no one could by any possibility have guessed. 
But the patient was always extremely susceptible to 
the influence of handwriting, and could accurately 
describe the writer of any letter shown to her. 

" We have also frequently seen persons in the 
mesmeric sleep who described, with perfect accu- 
racy, things and persons at a distance, whether in 
another room, another house or street, or at greater 
distances still, to the extent of three or four hun- 
dred miles. Some did this with the aid of the writ- 
ing or hair of the absent person ; some obtained the 
trace of the absent from persons present ; some from 
knowing the absent themselves. But, in all cases, 
15 



226 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

they had a more or less vivid vision of the place, and 
of the people in it ; and, in all those we have studied, 
there was convincing evidence that they did so, hav- 
ing once obtained the trace or clew, independent of 
thought-reading. They uniformly stated some facts, 
afterwards confirmed, which were either unknown 
to us or to any one present, or even contrary to 
our belief; and, when they persisted in their own 
account of a fact, they were always right. No 
doubt some of these persons possessed the power 
of thought-reading, even when they did not use it ; 
but granting, for the sake of argument, what is 
impossible, that they learned all they knew by 
thought-reading, is that less wonderful than vision 
at a distance ? or is it more explicable by the imagi- 
nation ? Nay, is not thought-reading itself vision at 
a distance, and through opaque bodies too ? Surely 
our mind, or it-s organ, the brain, are not in contact 
with that of the sleeper ; and, if in communication 
with it, this can only be through some external 
medium, such as is implied in the facts previously 
adduced. And, admitting such a medium, distance 
is a matter of small importance, as it is in the case 
of light, electricity, gravitation. But whatever be 
the true explanation of the facts, — and they are 
facts which every patient inquirer can verify, — they 
cannot be explained by the theory of imagination. 
For the sleeper evidently perceives for himself, and 
in spite of suggestion, or of leading questions, or of 
direct contradiction, adheres to his story, and, as we 
have often seen, is found to have been right In 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 227 

the appendix to Mr. Colquhoun's historical work on 
Magic, Witchcraft, and Animal Magnetism/ will 
be found a very beautiful case of vision at a distance 
in a young lady of Edinburgh, the operator being a 
gentleman of high character and literary standing, 
who, before he mesmerized this young lady on that 
one occasion, had never seen a person in the mes- 
meric sleep. In that case, the sleeper was found 
right on disputed points. We ourselves have seen, 
within the last six or seven months, and repeatedly 
tested, three or four most interesting cases of the 
same kind, in which the same fact presented itself. 
And we have also lately seen a sleeper, thoroughly 
blindfolded, play cards, beating all opponents ; deal- 
ing more rapidly than they, and reading their hands 
as easily as her own. We confess ourselves utterly 
at a loss to perceive how imagination, granting it to 
have produced, or to have a share in producing, the 
mesmeric sleep, can explain facts like these, which, 
we repeat, are well-established facts. 

" We have also had frequent opportunities of see- 
ing the interesting facts of medical or physiological 
and pathological intuition. We have heard unedu- 
cated persons, in the mesmeric sleep, describe, in 
their own language, — which, although not techni- 
cal, was usually superior to their waking speech, 
— the structure and functions of their own bodies 
in a manner truly striking. We have seen them do 
the same to persons en rapport with them, and point 
out, with singular accuracy, the weak or diseased 
parts so as to astonish those who best knew the 



228 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

truth. We have seen this repeatedly done, in the 
absence of the persons whose systems were de- 
scribed, from their hair or handwriting, and, in one 
remarkable case, without farther aid than the name 
and residence of the sufferer. We have seen the 
sleeper go over the whole of his person, and point 
out, as he did so, the parts in which pain was felt by 
the other party, whom he had never before seen nor 
heard of. We have seen two sleepers, unknown to 
each other, give the same account of the cause, the 
precise nature of the treatment, and the cure, of an 
accident occurring at a great distance from either 
of them ; and their statements were in all points 
confirmed. One of these sleepers was told that an 
accident had happened, but nothing more. The 
other discovered it on being simply asked to visit 
the sufferer, which she was in the habit of doing in 
her sleep. The imagination theory is quite inade- 
quate to explain these and hundreds of similar facts, 
which are recorded by trustworthy observers. 

" We might go on to adduce many other varieties 
of mesmeric phenomena, equally beyond the reach 
of that theory ; but this would be tedious, and is 
quite unnecessary. Those already given are suffi- 
cient to establish our proposition, which is, that, 
granting that the imagination suffices to account 
for the phenomena of electro-biology, or, more cor- 
rectly, those in which suggestion is employed, there 
are yet many facts which cannot be brought into 
that category. Those physiologists, therefore, who, 
after having long denied the suggestive phenomena, 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 229 

f 
when observed and described by the cultivators of 
animal magnetism, as occurring in the magnetic 
sleep, now admire them under a new name, as oc- 
curring in the waking state, are mistaken in suppos- 
ing that the same explanation applies, or can apply, 
to all mesmeric phenomena. 

" This mistake has arisen from their very imper- 
fect acquaintance with the phenomena to be ex- 
plained. Had they studied the phenomena of the 
mesmeric sleep, as they did those of suggestion in 
the waking state, — and this, as we know for certain, 
they have not yet done, — they would have been 
less confident in their theory, or at least in the ex- 
tent of its application ; and we cannot doubt, that, 
when they have done so, they will find themselves 
competent to acknowledge facts which that theory 
is utterly inadequate to explain. 

" It is of no avail for them to deny the facts here 
adduced, because they regard them as impossible, 
or because they cannot bring them under their fa- 
vorite hypothesis. Such conclusions, a priori, and 
more especially when the alleged facts have not 
been investigated by those who reject them, have 
no logical value whatever. They denied also, until 
a very recent period, the very facts they now admit ; 
and yet these very facts are true, — nay, they were as 
true when described by the Mesmerists as occurring 
in the sleep as they are now. We know, in addi- 
tion, that these particular phenomena may easily be 
produced in the waking state ; but the phenomena 
are identical. And surely those whose account of 



230 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

these truly wonderful and long-rejected phenomena 
are now found to have been accurate and faithful 
may expect that their statements concerning other 
equally wonderful phenomena will also, when exam- 
ined, prove to have been equally faithful and true to 
nature. 

"We have seen several lucid subjects, possessed 
of the power of vision at a distance, yet who could 
not read a closed letter, which latter feat would seem 
to require, if not a higher, yet a different state." 

175. Clairvoyance. 

Clairvoyance is independent of the physical body 
for its existence, but not for its manifestations. It is 
not a product of disease, as has been supposed. Dis- 
ease, by weakening the physical powers, may, at 
times, furnish the conditions essential for clairvoy- 
ance. The spirit, overburdened and concealed by 
the rubbish of worldly life, shines through the dark- 
ness of the flesh. 

Clairvoyance is simply the clear seeing of the spir- 
it ; and to say that it is caused by the disease which 
allows it to be manifested is confounding cause w T ith 
effect. It is a positive condition of spirit-life, occur- 
ring both during sleep and wakefulness ; appearing in 
different individuals with varying degrees of lucidity. 

176. Applied to the Realm of Spirit. 

When applied to the realm of spirit, clairvoyance 
is decisive. The revelations of different clairvoyants 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 231 

vary ; but, in their main features, they coincide as 
perfectly as can be expected when the ever-chang- 
ing and extremely subtle conditions of this state 
are considered. The Seeress of Prevorst was very 
reliable ; and her revelations have a greater signifi- 
cance from the extreme purity and beauty of her 
spiritual life. 

177. Testimony of the Seeress of Prevorst. 

" Unfortunately, my life is now so constituted that 
my soul, as well as well as my spirit, sees into the 
spiritual world, — which is, however, indeed upon 
the earth ; and I see them not only singly, but fre- 
quently in multitudes and of different kinds, and 
many departed souls. 

" I see many with whom I come into approxima- 
tion, and others who come to me ; with whom I con- 
verse, and who remain near me for months. I see 
them at various times by day and night, whether I 
am alone or in company. I am perfectly awake at 
the time, and am not sensible of any circumstance 
or sensation that calls them up. I see them alike, 
whether I am strong or weak, plethoric or in a state 
of inanition, glad or sorrowful, amused or otherwise ; 
and I cannot dismiss them. Not that they are 
always with me ; but they come at their own pleas- 
ure, like mortal visitors, and equally whether I am 
in a spiritual or corporeal state at the time. When 
I am in my calmest and most healthy sleep, they 
awaken me : I know not how ; but I feel that I am 



232 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

awakened by them, and that I should have slept on 
had they not come to my bedside. I observe fre- 
quently, that, when a ghost visits me by night, those 
who sleep in the same room with me, are, by their 
dreams, made aware of its presence. They speak 
afterwards of the apparition they saw in their 
dream, though I have not breathed a syllable on the 
subject to them. Whilst the ghosts are with me, I 
see and hear everything around me as usual, and 
can think of other subjects; and, though I can 
avert my eyes from them, it is difficult for me to do 
it. I feel in a sort of magnetic rapport with them. 
They appear to me like a thin cloud, that one could 
see through, which, however, I cannot do. I never 
observed that they threw any shadow. I see them 
more clearly by sunlight or moonlight than in the 
dark ; but, whether I could see them in absolute 
darkness, I do not know. If any object comes 
between me and them, they are hidden from me. I 
cannot see them with closed eyes, nor when I turn 
my face from them : but I am so sensible of their 
presence, that I could designate the" exact spot they 
are standing upon ; and I can hear them speak, 
although I stop my ears. . . . The forms of the 
good spirits appear bright ; those of the evil, dusky. 
" Their gait is like the gait of the living, only that 
the better spirits seem to float, and the evil ones 
tread heavier, so that their footsteps may sometimes 
be heard, not by me alone, but by those who are 
with -me. They have various ways of attracting 
attention by other sounds besides speech ; and this 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 233 

faculty they exercise frequently on those who can 
neither see them nor hear their voices. These 
sounds consist in sighing, knocking, noises as of 
the throwing of sand or gravel, rustling of a paper, 
rolling of a ball, shuffling as in slippers, &c. They 
are also able to move heavy articles, and to open 
and shut doors, although they can pass through 
them unopened or through the walls. I observe, 
that, the darker a spectre is, the stronger is his 
voice, and the more ghostly powers of making 
noises, &c, he seems to have. The sounds they 
produce are by means of the air, and the nerve- 
spirit, which is still in them. I never saw a ghost 
when he was in the act of producing any sound 
except speech, so that I conclude they cannot do 
it visibly ; neither have I ever seen them in the act 
of opening or shutting a door, only directly after- 
wards. They move their mouths in speaking ; and 
their voices are various as those of the living. They 
cannot answer me all that I desire. Wicked spirits 
are more willing or able to do this ; but I avoid con- 
versing with them." 

178. Testimony of Swedenborg. 

Swedenborg also relates similar facts. 

" I have conversed with many, after their decease, 
with whom I was acquainted during their life in the 
body ; and such conversation has been of long con- 
tinuance, — sometimes for months, sometimes for a 
whole year, — and with as clear and distinct a voice, 



234 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

but internal, as with friends in the world. The sub- 
ject of our discourse has sometimes turned on the 
state of man after death ; and they have greatly 
wondered that no one in the life of the body knows, 
or believes, that he is to live in such a manner after 
the life of the body, when, nevertheless, it is a con- 
tinuation of life, and that of such a nature, that the 
deceased passes from an obscure life into a clear 
and distinct one, and they who are in faith towards 
the Lord into a life more and more distinct. They 
have desired me to acquaint their friends on earth 
that they were alive, and to write to them an account 
of their states, as I have often told them many 
things respecting their friends : but my reply was, 
that if I should speak to them, or write to them, 
they would not believe, but would call my informa- 
tion mere fancy, and would ridicule it, asking for 
signs or miracles before they should believe ; and 
thus I should be exposed to their derision. And 
that the things here declared are true, few, perhaps, 
will believe ; for men deny, in their hearts, the 
existence of spirits, and they who do not deny such 
existence are yet very unwilling to hear that any 
one can converse with spirits. Such a faith respect- 
ing spirits did not at all prevail in ancient times, 
but does at this day, when men wish, by reasonings 
of the brain, to explore what spirits are, whom, by 
definitions and suppositions, they deprive of every 
sense ; and, the more learned they wish to be, the 
more they do this." 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 235 

179. Spirits retain, and appear in, their 

Earthly Form. 

That spirits appear in their earthly form, and in 
possession of the senses, is almost the universal 
testimony of clairvoyants. 

180. Do the Senses of the Spirit recognize 

Physical Objects ? 

I have made it a subject of investigation ; and, 
aside from the direct affirmation of spirits, I drew, 
from facts, the conclusion that they can do so. I 
will mention but one seance ; as the chances of 
error were, in this, perfectly wanting, and the result 

extremely accurate. Mrs. T sat at a small table 

near which was the light. I sat at the opposite side 
of the room by another table, on which were some 
nuts and a pitcher. We were conversing, by means 
of the tipping table, with a near and dear friend. I 
asked, " Can you see us with your own eyes ? ' 
"Yes." — "Do you see objects in the same man- 
ner ? " — " Yes." — " To prove to me that you can do 
so, if I turn all these nuts into the pitcher, and then 
turn out a part, can you rap once for each nut that 
remains ? " — " Yes." I then transferred the nuts — 
above a quart — to the pitcher, and turned out a 
portion. It must be borne in mind that it was quite 
dark at this table, and by no possibility could I have 
even unconsciously known the number. Having 
thus prepared the pitcher, I said, " Please rap." 
Eleven and a half raps, — the last a feeble or tiny 



236 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

rap. I turned the nuts out, — eleven, and a broken 
half! It had not occurred to me that it was possi- 
ble for one of the nuts to be broken. I repeated 
this experiment several times, and at each trial the 
number was accurately given. The inference is un- 
avoidable. That spirit must have seen by means 
strictly its own, and independent of earth. And, as 
spirits are not organically unlike, all spiritual beings 
must see likewise. 



181. Does the Spirit of the Clairvoyant 

leave its Body ? 

It does in proportion as it enters the highest spir- 
itual state, even to complete separation, which is 
death. The facts cited relative to double presence 
may be introduced here also. 

An interesting magnetic treatment is detailed by 
Cahagnet in his " Celestial Telegraph," wherein he 
sets one clairvoyant to watch another. 

" I perceive that Adele purposes entering into the 
ecstatic state : I make up my mind to try a decisive 
experiment, and I leave her to her wilL I forthwith 
send Bruno to sleep, put him en rapport with her, 
and beg him to follow her as far as possible, recom- 
mending him not to be alarmed, and to warn me 
only if he should see danger. I wished to be as- 
sured by myself of the pretended dangers of ecstacy. 
Frequently had Adele told me that she had been on 
the point of not coming back to re-enter her body ; 
and, as I thought that she only wanted to alarm me, 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 237 

I wished to know what opinion to come to. At the 
lapse of a quarter of an hour, Bruno exclaims, in 
great alarm, " I have lost sight of her ! " I had re- 
lied on him, and paid little attention to Adele, whose 
body in the mean while had grown icy cold ; there 
was no longer any pulse or respiration ; her face 
was of a sallow green, her lips blue, her heart no 
longer gave any signs of life. I placed before her 
lips a mirror, but it was by no means tarnished by 
them. I magnetized her powerfully, in order to 
bring back her soul into her body, but for five min- 
utes my labor was in vain. Bruno, alarmed at my 
want of success, as well as the persons present at 
this sitting, tended greatly to disturb me. I thought 
for a moment that the work was consummated, and 
that I had an indubitable proof that the soul had de- 
parted from her body. I was obliged to request the 
persons present to pass into another room, in order 
that I might recover by myself a little energy. At 
the lapse of a few moments, I entertained the hope 
that I should not have such a misfortune to deplore ; 
but, physically speaking, I was utterly powerless." 

182. Double Presence. 

There is another class of phenomena of unique 
character, — the double presence, when the spirit is 
seen and recognized at a distance from the body. 
The peculiar state which enables a second person in 
that locality to perceive the spirit on its arrival is 
simply one of delicate impressibility. The freedom 



238 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

of the spirit from the body is clairvoyance, and any 
clairvoyant is capable of executing this "double 
presence/' so mysterious to old-school psychological 
writers. 

This "double presence," the body being in one 
place while the spirit is at another, has been long 
recognized by the Germans. 

" One of the most remarkable cases of this kind is 
that recorded by Jung Stilling, of a man, who, about 
the year 1740, resided in the neighborhood of Phil- 
adelphia, in the United States. His habits were re- 
tired, and he spoke little. He was grave, benevolent, 
and pious ; and nothing was known against his char- 
acter, except that he had the reputation of possessing 
secrets that were not altogether lawful. Many ex- 
traordinary stories were told of him, and, among the 
rest, the following : The wife of a ship captain, 
whose husband was on a visit to Europe and Africa, 
and from whom she had been long without tidings, 
overwhelmed with anxiety for his safety, was in- 
duced to address herself to this person. Having lis- 
tened to her story, he begged her to excuse him for 
a while, when he would bring her the intelligence 
required. He then passed into an inner room, and 
she sat herself down to wait : but, his absence con- 
tinuing longer than she expected, she became impa- 
tient, thinking he had forgotten her ; and so, softly 
approaching the door, she peeped through some 
aperture, and, to her surprise, beheld him lying on a 
sofa, as motionless as if he were dead. She, of 
course, did not think it advisable to disturb him, but 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 239 

waited his return, when he told her that her husband 
had not been able to write to her for such and such 
reasons ; but that he was in a coffee-house in Lon- 
don, and would very shortly be at home again. Ac- 
cordingly he arrived ; and, as the lady heard from 
him that the causes of his unusual silence had been 
precisely those alleged by the man, she felt ex- 
tremely desirous of ascertaining the truth of the rest 
of the information : and in this she was gratified ; 
for he no sooner set his eyes on the magician, than 
he said he had seen him before, on a certain day, in 
a coffee-house in London ; and that he had told him 
that his wife was extremely uneasy about him ; and 
that he, the captain, had thereon mentioned how he 
had been prevented writing ; adding that he was on 
the eve of embarking for America. He had then 
lost sight of the stranger amongst the throng, and 
knew nothing more about him." 

A partner of my grandfather, having gone to the 
West Indies on business, and staying much longer 
than was expected, he consulted a fortune-teller, who 
enjoyed a local fame, more from curiosity than any 
faith in his pretensions. 

He was left sitting in a room, while the fortune- 
teller, excusing himself, went out. After waiting an 
hour, my grandfather walked out into the orchard. 
There he saw the fortune-teller lying under a tree as 
if he were dead. He returned to the house ; and in a 
short time the man came in, and told him that his 
partner was then taking dinner at such an hotel in 
Jamaica, and was on his way home. As soon as 



240 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

possible his partner returned, and almost the first 
words he said was to inquire for the fortune-teller. 
He said, that, while taking dinner at such a hotel, 
he saw him pass through the room, but so quickly 
that he could not speak to him. 

183. Impressions made on the Mind never 

Effaced. 

Locke supposed perfect sleep to be dreamless, 
while the Cartesian doctrine teaches that the spirit 
never sleeps. The former theory rests on negative 
evidence, and is opposed to facts. An impression 
once received is never lost. Even in torpidity, re- 
sulting from injury of the brain, when its functions 
appear completely suspended, it is found that indel- 
ible impressions are made. 

A case is given, by Dr. Abercrombie, of a boy 
who had his skull fractured and trepanned. He was 
quite insensible during the operation, and had not 
the least memory, after his recovery, even of the ac- 
cident. Fourteen years afterwards, he was attacked 
by a fever ; and, during the delirium, he astonished 
his mother by a minute account of the operation, 
even to the dress worn by the surgeon. After the 
fever had passed, he again lost the memory of the 
event. 

This is farther shown by the experience of per- 
sons when drowning. 

" One of the most singular features in psychology 
is the fact, which is perfectly notorious, that the fac- 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 241 

ulty of memory acquires an activity and tenacity in 
the case of persons about being drowned which it 
never exhibits under ordinary circumstances. An 
accident occurred some weeks since at New York, 
which threw a number of persons into the North 

River. Among others were Mr. and his sister ; 

the first named, editor of a weekly paper in Philadel- 
phia. They were both finally saved. Mr. de- 
scribes the sensation while under the water, and in a 
drowning condition, to be pleasant, but peculiar. It 
seemed to him that every event of his life crowded 
into his mind at once. He was sensible of what 
was occurring, and expected to drown, but seemed 
only to regret that such an interesting ' item ' as his 
sensations should be lost." 

In noticing this statement in an exchange, I am 
reminded of an incident, which, dissimilar as it is to 
the one just narrated in its general features, had the 
same remarkable awakening of the memory which 
such cases sometimes exhibit. I can vouch for the 
truth of what follows, as well as testify to vivid rec- 
ollections in my own case, when exposed to the haz- 
ards of drowning, which reproduced in a few mo- 
ments the events of my past life. 

" Some years since, A held a bond of B for several 
hundred dollars, haivng some time to run. At its 
maturity, he found he had put it away so carefully 
that he was unable to find it. Every search was 
fruitless. He only knew it had not been paid nor 
traded away. In this dilemma he called on B, re- 
lated the circumstance of its disappearance, and pro- 
16 



242 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

posed giving him a receipt as an offset to the bond, 
or an indemnifying bond against its collection, if 
ever found. To his great surprise, B not only re- 
fused to accept the terms of meeting the diffi- 
culty, but positively denied owing him anything, and 
strongly intimated the presence of a fraudulent de- 
sign on the part of A. Without legal proof, and 
therefore without redress, he had to endure both the 
loss of* his money, and the suspicion of a dishonora- 
ble intention in urging the claim. Several years 
passed away without any change in the nature of 
the case, or its facts as above given, when one after- 
noon, while bathing in the James River, A, either 
from inability to swim, .or cramp, or some other 
cause, was discovered to be drowning. He had 
sunk and risen several times, and was floating under 
the water, when he was seized, and drawn to the 
shore. The usual remedies were applied to resusci- 
tate him ; and, though there were signs of life, there 
was no appearance of consciousness. He was taken 
home in a state of complete exhaustion, and re- 
mained so for some days. On the first return of 
strength to walk, he left his bed, went to his book- 
case, took a book, opened it, and handed his long- 
lost bond to a friend who was present. He then in- 
formed him, that, when drowning, and sinking as he 
supposed to rise no more, in a moment, there stood 
out distinctly before his mind, as a picture, every act 
of his life, from the hour of childhood to the hour of 
sinking beneath the water, and among them the cir- 
cumstance of his putting the bond in a book, the 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 243 

book itself, and the place in which he had put it in 
the book-case. It is needless to say he recovered 
his own with interest. 

" There is no doubt that this remarkable quicken- 
ing of memory results from the process which in 
such cases is going on, — the extinguishment of life. 
It is somewhat analogous to the breaking-in of the 
light of another world, which, in so many well- 
attested death-bed scenes, enables the departing 
spirit, even before it has absolutely left its clay tene- 
ment, to behold and exult in the glories of the future 
state. Is it not a fair inference, that, when the soul 
shakes off the clogs and incumbrances of the body, 
it will possess capacities for enjoyment, of which, on 
earth, it was unsusceptible ? 

" As regards the memory, it will be observed by 
most persons how readily in life we forget that 
which we do not desire to remember, and in this 
way get rid of much unhappiness. Can we do this 
after death ? This is an important practical ques- 
tion." 

Most important ! Death quickens the memory, 
The past is retained forever. The quick, intense 
thought of the drowning person is a foretaste of 
that eternal spirit-life. 

184. Prophecy. 

Only by impressions descending from the spirit- 
World can prophecy be explained. Certain spirits 
understand and combine causes and effects, and can 



244 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

tell more readily what will be the result. Prof. Greg- 
ory remarks, — 

" By some obscure means, certain persons in a 
peculiar state may have visions of events yet future. 
And, indeed, it is only by admitting some such in- 
fluence that we can at all account for the fulfillment 
of prophetic dreams, which, it cannot be doubted, 
have frequently taken place. Coincidence, as I have 
before remarked, is insufficient to explain even one 
case, so enormously great are the chances against 
it ; but, when several cases occur, it is absolutely 
out of the question to explain them by coinci- 
dence." 

Volumes might readily be filled with the facts of 
prevision and prophecy. We do not expect to do 
more, confined as we are to narrow limits, than to 
give illustrative facts. 

" Major Buckley, twenty -three years ago, before 
he had heard of animal magnetism, was on the 
voyage between England and India, when, one day, 
a lady remarked that they had not seen a sail for 
many days. He replied that they would see one 
next day at noon on the starboard bow. Being asked 
by the officers in the ship how he knew, he could 
only say that he saw it, and that it would happen. 
When the time came, the captain jested him on his 
prediction, when at that moment a man who had 
been sent aloft half an hour before, in consequence 
of the prophecy, sung out, ' A sail ! ' — ' Where ? ' 
— i On the starboard bow/ I consider this case 
interesting because it tends to *show a relation be- 






Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 245 

tween magnetic power, which Major Buckley pos- 
sesses in an eminent degree, and susceptibility to 
the magnetic or other influences concerned." 

" A soldier in a Highland regiment, then in Amer- 
ica, named Evan Campbell, was summoned before 
his officer for having spread among the men a pre- 
diction that a certain officer would be killed next 
day. He could only explain that he had seen a 
vision of it, and that he saw the officer killed, in the 
first onset, by a ball in the forehead. Next day an 
engagement took place ; and, in the first attack, the 
officer was killed by a ball in the forehead. I am 
told that this instance of second sight may be en- 
tirely depended on." 

Governor Tallmadge records an experience worthy 
of repetition, from the high moral and intellectual 
character of that distinguished man. He was one of 
the party on board the U. S. war-ship " Princeton," 
on the memorable occasion when the " Peace-maker " 
exploded. During the first three discharges, his 
position had been at the breech of the gun. After 
dinner, he returned to the deck, when he observed 
that the great gun was about being discharged for 
the fourth and last time, and he assumed his former 
position. There was some delay of the party com- 
ing on deck, and, while waiting, he was seized with 
sudden dread ; and, under an irresistible impulse, he 
retired to the ladies' cabin. Immediately he heard 
the report, and, the next moment, the intelligence of 
the terrible disaster. Five distinguished men, two 
of whom were members of the Cabinet, had been in- 



246 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

stantly killed. The gun had burst at the very spot 
where he had stood ; and, if he had remained, he 
would have been demolished. 

The day previous to the burning of the " Henry 
Clay," on the Hudson, Mrs. Porter, being entranced, 
in the presence of several persons announced the 
event. • 

On the authority of Mrs. Swisshelm, it is stated 
that the Rev. Dr. Wilson, of Alleghany City, proph- 
esied " the great fire of 1845, in Pittsburg ; the Mex- 
ican war, and its results ; the war between Russia 
and the Western powers ; and the speedy limitation 
of the temporal power of the Pope." 

While Napoleon Bonaparte was an exile on the 
Island of St. Helena, he made the following remark- 
able declaration respecting the future of the United 
States : " Ere the close of the nineteenth century, 
America will be convulsed with one of the greatest 
revolutions the world ever witnessed. Should it 
succeed, her power and prestige are lost ; but, should 
the government maintain her supremacy; she will be 
on a firmer basis than ever. The theory of a re- 
publican form of government will be established, 
and she can defy the world." 

History furnishes many examples of the hero's 
mind becoming ecstatic with the vast labor it was 
called to perform. Hannibal had his star of destiny, 
as well as Napoleon. While pausing at Etovissa, 
he is said to have seen in his sleep a youth of divine 
figure, who told him that he was sent by Jupiter to 
guide him into Italy ; and bade him follow without 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 247 

turning his eyes on either side. He followed, though 
he trembled with terror : but, his curiosity becoming 
too strong for his resolution, he looked back, and 
saw an immense serpent moving along, felling the 
bushes and trees in its way ; and after it followed a 
dark cloud, with loud thunder. When he inquired 
what this commotion meant, he was told that it por- 
tended the desolation of Italy ; to go on, and ask 
00 more. 

The claim that there is an independent organ or 
faculty of prophecy or prescience is an unsupported 
hypothesis. As the foreseeing of an event cannot 
change the cause of the occurrence, the intelligence 
that foresees must judge from cause to effect The 
mortal prophet may not reason^ but receive as in- 
spiration ; but the source of the inspiration must be 
ascertained from a thorough knowledge of causes. 
Prophecy presupposes fixed and unalterable rela- 
tions between causes and effects. The mind, capa- 
ble of grasping the chain of causes leading to a 
given effect, can foreknow that effect. 

The prediction of an astronomical event, as an 
eclipse, although founded on the absolute relations 
of numbers, is as truly a prophecy as the prediction 
of an event in history. If the astronomer inform a 
companion when an eclipse will take place, without 
giving the data of his calculations, that companion is 
in the position of the prophet inspired by celestial 
intelligence. He can hear and understand the pre- 
diction ; although he cannot arrive at it unaided, nor 



248 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

know the process by which others have gained their 
knowledge. 

The truth of science, of all knowledge, is proved 
by the facilities it affords to predict the unknown. 



XI. 



SPIRIT ITS PHENOMENA AND LAWS (CONTINUED). 

All the immense space by which we are surrounded is peopled with an- 
gels, whose eyes are continually turned towards us. The most har- 
dened in wickedness still shrinks from observation. The thought that 
he is watched checks the criminal in the fury of his passion. Can the 
Christian, then, who knows that celestial spirits not only behold his every 
action, but also read his most secret thoughts, — can he ever, in- mere 
levity and thoughtlessness, deliver himself up to evil ? 

Hilary of Poictiers. 

185. Cause of Failure. 

THE problem of man's immortality has been 
vexed from immemorial time ; yet the theo- 
logian and metaphysician, after all their gigantic 
efforts, have accomplished nothing by way of demon- 
stration. They have never met the question fairly, 
and scanned it by the light of natural law. Forced 
to admit certainty into the domain of the physical 
world, — a term by which we mean what they un- 
derstand by the world of matter, — they have ever 
regarded with holy horror the introduction of cause 
and effect into the realm of spirit. On the threshold 
of this realm, the inductive philosophy, that magnifi- 
cent system which traces effects to their causes, 
which discerns a cause beneath every effect, has 
been dismissed as a profane and erring guide, and 



250 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

in its place a will-o'-the-wisp has led them through 
the reeking miasm of metaphysical controversy, and 
along the slippery paths intersecting the night-envel- 
oped swamp-lands of bigoted and insane theological 
disputation. 

186. Value of Clairvoyance. 

One fact of clairvoyance — one manifestation of 
spirit presence — outweighs all the logical argumen- 
tations the world has ever heard. We said, that, if 
spirit existed, it must have form. It must retain, 
whatever others it may acquire, the five senses. It 
must be organized. Let us investigate this prop- 
osition. The clairvoyant has entered the deepest 
trance. His body lies oblivious ; as near the portals 
of death as it is possible for it to be without enter- 
ing within the gates. All avenues to the senses 
are closed ; the blood flows slowly and turgidly 
along its channels ; the nerves have lost their irri- 
tability ; and the brain cannot feel. The blinding 
lightnings affect not the eye ; the crash of thunders 
are not heard by the ear. Limb after limb can be 
severed unfelt. Such is the state of the body. 
What is that of the spirit which has thus tempo- 
rarily deserted it ? 

187. Condition of the Freed Spirit. 

Not unconscious, not senseless, not inactive, but 
like a freed eagle it soars in the light of a new exist- 
ence. The channels through which it obtained a 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 251 

knowledge of the world are closed, it is true : but it 
has no necessity for them now ; for spiritual light 
acts on the spirit eye, waves in the spirit atmosphere 
vibrate on the spirit ear, and feeling becomes as 
a refined consciousness, which is far more delicate 
and exquisite by all conception than it ever pos- 
sessed in the body. It sees, it hears, it feels, while 
the body can be burned to ashes without pain, or 
even automatic irritability. 

188. Can the Spirit possess Senses indepen- 
dent of the Physical Body ? 

The materialist, mistaking the instrument of man- 
ifestation for the cause, asserts that the spirit origi- 
nates in certain combinations of matter, and must 
perish with the combinations which gave it birth. 
This dependence of mind on the physical body is 
only apparent, and its independence is shown by 
clairvoyance as well as by facts drawn from other 
sciences. 

189. Laura Bridgeman. 

The mental development of Laura Bridgeman 
proves that intellect of a high order may exist in- 
dependent of the senses. Completely deprived of 
sight and hearing at an early period of childhood, 
she was a blind and deaf mute. Dr. Howe, her kind 
and angelic teacher, says : " As soon as she could 
walk, she began to explore the rooms and the house : 
she became familiar with the forms, density, weight, 



252 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

and heat of every article she could lay her hands 
upon. I found her of a well-formed figure, a strongly 
marked nervous-sanguine temperament, a large and 
beautifully shaped head, and the whole system in 
healthy action." She returned to his institution in 

1837. 

He continues: " After waiting about two weeks, 

the attempt was made to give her knowledge of 
arbitrary signs, by which she could interchange 
thoughts with others. There was one of two ways 
to be adopted : either to go on to build up a lan- 
guage of signs which she had already commenced 
herself, or to teach her the purely arbitrary language 
in common use ; that is, to give her a sign for every 
individual thing, or to give her a knowledge of let- 
ters, by combination of which she might express her 
idea of the existence, and the mode and condition of 
existence, of anything. The former would have been 
easy, but very ineffectual ; the latter seemed diffi- 
cult, but, if accomplished, very effectual. I deter- 
mined, therefore, to try the latter." 

After describing the interesting process by which 
he taught her to associate names with things, he 
goes on to say, " Hitherto the process had been me- 
chanical, and the success about as great as in teach- 
ing a knowing dog a variety of tricks. The poor 
child had sat in mute amazement, and patiently imi- 
tated everything her teacher did : but now the truth 
began to flash upon her ; her intellect began to 
work ; she perceived that here was a way by which 
she could herself make up a sign of anything that 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 253 

was in her own mind, and show it to another mind, 
and at once her countenance lighted up with a 
human expression. It was no longer a dog or a par- 
rot : it was an immortal spirit, eagerly seizing upon 
a link of union with other spirits ! I could almost 
fix upon the moment when the truth first dawned 
upon her mind, and spread its light to her counte- 
nance. I saw that the great obstacle was overcome, 
and that henceforth nothing but patient and perse- 
vering, but plain and straightforward, efforts were to 
be used." 

At the end of the year, a report of the case was 
made, of which the following is an extract : " It has 
been ascertained, beyond the possibility of a doubt, 
that she cannot see a ray of light, cannot hear the 
least sound, and never exercises her sense of smell, 
if she has any. Thus her mind dwells in darkness 
and stillness, as profound as that of a closed tomb at 
midnight Of beautiful sights, and sweet sounds, 
and pleasant odors, she has no conception : never- 
theless she is as happy and playful as a bird or a 
lamb; and the enjoyment of her intellectual facul- 
ties, or the acquirement of a new idea, gives her a 
vivid pleasure, which is plainly marked in her ex- 
pressive features." 

Describing the interesting process by which he 
taught her to associate names with things, he goes 
on to say, " If she have no occupation, she evidently 
amuses herself by imaginary dialogues, or by recall- 
ing past impressions : she counts with her fingers, 
or spells out names of things which she has recently 



254 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

learned, in the manual alphabet of the deaf mutes. 
In this lonely self-communion, she seems to reason, 
reflect, and argue. But, wonderful as is the rapidity 
with which she writes her thoughts upon the air, 
still more so is the ease and rapidity with which she 
reads the words thus written, — grasping their hands 
in hers, and following every movement of their fin- 
gers, as letter after letter conveys their meaning to 
her mind. It is in this way she converses with her 
blind playmates ; and nothing can more forcibly show 
the power of mind over matter than a meeting be- 
tween them. For, if it requires great skill for two 
pantomimists to paint their thoughts and feelings by 
the movements of the body, and the expressions of 
the countenance, how much greater the difficulty 
when darkness enshrouds them both, and one can 
hear no sound ! When Laura is walking through a 
passage-way, with her hands spread before her, she 
knows instantly every one she meets, and passes 
them with a sign of recognition ; but, if it be a girl 
of her own age, and especially if it be one of her 
own favorites, there is instantly a bright smile of 
recognition, and twining of arms, a grasping of 
hands, and a swift telegraph upon the tiny fingers. 
" When left alone, she occupies and apparently 
amuses herself, and seems quite contented ; and so 
strong seems to be the natural tendency of thought 
to put on the garb of language, that she often solilo- 
quizes in the finger-language, slow and tedious as it 
is. But it is only when alone that she is quiet ; for, 
if she becomes sensible of the presence of any one 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 255 

near her, she is restless until she can sit close beside 
them, hold their hand, and converse with them by 
signs. In her intellectual character, it is pleasing to 
observe an insatiable thirst for knowledge, and a 
quick perception of the relations of things. In her 
moral character, it is beautiful to behold her contin- 
ued goodness, her keen enjoyment of existence, her 
expansive love, her unhesitating confidence, her sym- 
pathy with suffering, her conscientiousness, truthful- 
ness, and hopefulness." 

Her spirit was locked within her body, without 
-the least contact with the world through the most 
useful of the senses ; yet she not only thought, but 
thought in the same manner as those who possess the 
perfection of the senses. If thought depend on the 
senses, then the quality of thought should change 
when the senses are useless. That thought is the 
same in kind, under all circumstances bf expression, 
is conclusive that it is superior to the organs of the 
senses. Mind in man is the resultant of the spirit- 
ual organism modified by the physical body. After 
the dissolution of the latter, such modification does 
not exist, and the mind is animated from the spirit- 
ual organism. 

190. The Spiritual Organism. 

If the spirit exist in the immortal land as an en- 
tity, of what material is its body composed ? We 
say body ; for again we meet the division of mind 
and body, applying with the same force to the spirit 
as to the man. 



. 



256 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

Admitting the existence of spirit, we are forced 
either to believe that it exists as a detached intelli- 
gence or as an entity. The first position we have 
endeavored to show untenable. If the latter be ac- 
cepted, it follows, as sequence, that that entity is 
derived from the mortal body, or enters a body 
prepared for it. The latter position presupposes 
miracle, the direct interposition of Divinity ; pre- 
supposes an interference we never see in this life, 
and have no reason to suppose exists in the here- 
after. Mind cannot change from one body to an- 
other without a miracle ; and as it is possible to 
account for all connected phenomena by referring 
them to an entity derived from the physical body, 
and in a strictly scientific manner, this conclusion 
must at last be accepted. 

191. The Spirit Organism the most Subtile 

Form of Matter. 

As the senses cannot recognize the matter of 
which the spirit-organism is composed, and as all 
idea of matter is derived from them, we cannot 
form a just conception of all its qualities. We 
know that it must be the most subtile form of mat- 
ter. Electricity, supposed to be the most refined, 
has often been assumed, and that, too, by intel- 
ligent Spiritualists, to be the constituent of the 
spirit-forms. Somehow it is supposed that spirits 
are intimately connected with electricity and mag- 
netism. 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 257 

192. An Erroneous Hypothesis. 

Prof. Hare truthfully observes, " It appeared to 
me a great error, on the part of spirits as well as 
mortals, that they should make efforts to explain the 
phenomena of the spirit-world by the ponderable or 
imponderable of the temporal. The fact that the 
rays of our sun do not affect the spirit-world, and 
that there is for that region an appropriate luminary, 
(luminosity ?) whose rays we do not perceive, must 
demonstrate that the imponderable elements, to 
which they owe their peculiar light, differ from tie 
ethereal fluid, which, according to the undulatory 
theory, is the means of producing light in the 
terrestrial creation. Thus, although in manifesta- 
tions our electricity takes no part, their electrici- 
ty may be the means by which their wills are 
transmitted effectually to the phenomena which 
it controls. ,, 



193. Electricity and Magnetism not Em- 
ployed. 

But it is not possible to build an individual out of 
electricity or magnetism, even if it be considered an 
element and not a force. If material, its atoms have 
almost infinite repulsion, on which its phenomena 
depend ; and how, out of such material, can start a 
form which can never perish ? But neither of these 
are elements : they are forces, and cannot act outside 
of matter. 
17 



258 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

194. What, then, is the Character of the 
Matter which forms the Spirit Organism ? 

Refined, ultimated matter is derived from the 
progress of the physical elements. Eternal progress 
is written in the constitution of matter. There is 
a constant flux and reflux through the domain of 
living beings. By every absorption and elimination 
the elements advance. This is not recognized by 
the gross tests of chemistry, but there are other and 
more conclusive tests. 

^The rootlets of plants make a delicate analysis, 
and prove this proposition. In New England, the 
soil composed of disintegrated granite, and hence 
rich in potash, is sterile until enriched by ashes. 
Chemistry pronounces potash from the soil, and 
potash from ashes, identical ; but the delicate spon- 
gioles of plants perceive a difference. Lichens and 
moss, the lower forms of vegetable life, will readily 
grow in the granite soil, but the higher vegeta- 
tion require the elements to pass through these 
lower orders before they can absorb and assimilate 
them. 

Another illustration from the same source is fur- 
nished by the results of phosphorus from bones, 
and phosphorus from limestone deposited in the 
early ages of the earth. While the former is highly 
beneficial to growing plants, the latter is useless. 
While one has been assimilated by living beings a 
countless number of times, the other has remained 
fixed in the roek, and has not departed from its pri- 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 259 

mal form. Chemistry declares the two identical, but 
plants do not acquiesce in its decision. 



195. Progress of the Elements. 

Such facts, which can be greatly multiplied, prove 
what may be termed the progress of the elements. 
This progress is slow, but we cannot doubt its exist- 
ence. Only in those cases where the elements have 
been, as it were, fossilized, can we compare their pres- 
ent with their past over a sufficiently long interval 
of time ; but, whenever we can do so, a difference is 
discernible. However small such progress may ap- 
pear, infinite time will yield any desired modifica- 
tion. 

Every cycle of change through which matter 
passes eliminates some parts to a higher state. It 
is from such illustrations that the spiritual elements 
are derived. They are the aroma of the material 
world, the fragrance of its perfect bloom. 

196. Spiritual Elements Realities. 

The spiritual elements, such as the earth ema- 
nates, which go to form the spiritual spheres, and 
enter into the organization of spirits, are realities. 
They possess all the properties of, earthy matter, 
together with new ones which they acquire by their 
refinement. Carbon is represented by a spiritual 
carbon, oxygen by a spiritual oxygen, etc., through 
the long catalogue. 



260 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

197. Spirits of Animals. 

Another explanation concerning the unindividual- 
ized beings whose spiritual essence ascends into the 
vast ether, and gravitates like an evaporating cloud 
to its appropriate position, is here afforded. True, 
they are not individualized, they do not retain their 
identity ; but they again enter into somewhat similar 
forms. If of sufficient refinement, the aroma passes 
at once to the spirit sphere ; if not, they re-unite with 
gross matter, and again enter the cycle of living be- 
ings, to be again and again eliminated, perhaps to 
travel up to the human form divine, and, becoming 
embodied, stand forth as eternal as the everlasting 
planets : nay, more, — when these shall fade like 
the baseless fabric of a vision, they will rise above 
the wreck of worlds, rejoicing in increasing wisdom. 

198. Spiritual Attraction and Repulsion. 

The poison wolfsbane, twining its roots around 
and among those of the fruitful' corn, extracts from 
the same dew, the same rain, the same soil, the most 
deadly poison ; while the corn elaborates the life-giv- 
ing grain. Particles seek like particles. They are 
repelled from dissimilar ones, and thus the intricate 
and mysterious web of nature is woven. 

199. In the Spiritual World, the same Laws 

hold Supreme. 

The force which builds up the wolfsbane and the 
corn, side by side, builds up, from the ascending 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 261 

atoms, the orange and the vine which decorate the 
landscapes of the spirit-spheres. 



200. Why, if Material, cannot Spirits be 

Seen ? 

We are here met with an objection which is urged 
as conclusive. Why can we not see spirits if they 
are material ? We cannot see the atmosphere, and, 
if we trusted our eyes alone, should never know that 
it exists ; yet it is composed of matter as tangible as 
iron or adamant. Its name, "gas," came from "ghost," 
because it was long considered to be the spirit of 
matter. We learn, by deeper investigation, that 
vision is a very untrustworthy guide in determining 
materiality. 

Whether a body is visible or invisible depends on 
the relations the body bears to the light. Experi- 
ments instituted by Sir John Herschel and M. 
Stokes prove that the same rays of light falling on 
one body remain invisible, while they become lumi- 
nous on others. If the solar spectrum be received 
on a screen, and then all the visible light to the ex- 
treme violet be cut off, perfect darkness is the re- 
sult. There is to appearance no more light ; but if 
a piece of glass tinged with oxide of uranium or a 
bottle of sulphate of quinine, or a paper moistened 
with the latter, is placed in the space beyond the vio- 
let, they become visible. In respect to this extraor- 
dinary fact, Grove, in his admirable and profound, 
yet incomplete, " Correlation of Physical Forces," a 



262 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

work that has attracted the attention of the scien- 
tists of the old world and the new, makes these 
observations, which I quote in full, for they are too 
choice to be presented otherwise : — 

" Other substances exhibit this effect in different 
degrees ; and, among the substances which have 
been considered perfectly analogous as to their ap- 
pearances when illumined, notable differences are 
discovered. Thus it appears, that emanations, which 
give no impressions to the eye when impinged on 
certain bodies, become luminous when impinged on 
others. We might imagine a room, so constructed 
that such emanations alone were permitted to enter 
it, which would be dark or light according to the 
substances with which the walls are coated, though 
in full daylight the respective coatings of the wall 
would be apparently white ; or, without altering the 
coating of the wall, the room, exposed to one class 
of rays, might be rendered dark by windows which 
would be transferred to another class of rays. 

" If, instead of solar light, the electrical light be 
employed for similar experiments, an equally strik- 
ing effect can be produced. A design, drawn on 
paper with sulphate of quinine and tartaric acid, is 
invisible in ordinary light, but appears with beautiful 
distinctness when illumined by the electrical light 
Thus, in pronouncing on a luminous effect, regard 
must be had to the recipient as well as emittent 
body. That which is or becomes light, when it falls 
on one body, is not light when it falls on another. 
Probably the retinas of the eyes of different persons 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 263 

differ, to some extent, in a similar manner ; and the 
same substances, illuminated by the same spectrum, 
may present different appearances to different per- 
sons, the spectrum appearing more elongated to one 
than another, so that what is light to one is darkness 
to another. 

" The force emitted from the sun may take a dif- 
ferent character at the surface of every different 
planet, and require different organisms or senses for 
its appreciation. 

" Myriads of organized beings may exist, imper- 
ceptible to our visions, even if we were among them ; 
and we might also be imperceptible to them." 

The visual organs of nocturnal animals and birds, 
such as the felines, bats, owls, etc., can plainly rec- 
ognize objects in what to other animals is darkness, 
This is partially accounted for by the enlargement 
of the pupils of their eyes : but not fully ; for the pupil 
of the eye of a bat, that sees with remarkable quick- 
ness, is not as large as that of man, who could not 
see at all in an equal darkness. Are we sure that 
these nocturnal animals are not sensible to rays of 
light to which the animals of daylight are strangers ? 
** Of insects, it has been suggested, by an eminent 
naturalist, that they see by means of light unknown 
to man. To them, light may sparkle in colors which 
we know nothing of, and to each of these tiny beings 
nature may array herself in hues which even the 
rainbow does not equal. Their eyes are constructed 
on an entirely different plan from those of animals, 
although conforming to the requisites of the known 



264 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

laws of light. This departure must have its origin 
in adaptation to a different luminosity from that 
which meets our own vision. Some insects can see 
well at night ; a fact certainly not referable with them 
to enlargement of the pupils of their eyes, for the 
thousands of facets composing those organs are not 
expansive. When the world is wrapped in darkness 
to other insects, they wing through the air, perceiv- 
ing objects by a glowing luminosity of too low in- 
tensity for the vision of the former. 

201. Why seek Immortal Existence outside 

of Physical Matter? 

Why seek immortality among the refined elements 
rather than in those of the physical world ? Why 
should it be found there more than here ? These 
questions lead to an investigation of what constitutes 
immortality. 

In the healthy organism, the forces of renovation 
balance those of decay. As soon as a fibre or nerve 
tissue or bone particle is worn out, new material is 
ready to supply the waste. So rapid is this wonder- 
ful process of decay and renovation, that, according; 
to the latest and most correct researches, all the softer 
tissues of the body, all, except the bones and teeth, 
are renewed, in health, every- thirty days. Thus the 
body is restored twelve times every year, and an in- 
dividual at sixty years of age has had seven hundred 
and twenty different organisms. This change pro- 
ceeds during sleep, as well as in the hours of wake- 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 265 

fulness : in fact, respiration is most rapid during 
sleep ; but in age is retarded, becoming more and 
more sluggish, until it ceases altogether, and death 
closes the earthly life. 

We have here, seemingly, as perfect an arrange- 
ment as it is possible to obtain ; and, we ask, why 
cannot such an organization be perpetual ? Mark 
the decline of such structures, and the answer is re- 
ceived. 

Could such conditions remain forever, could ren- 
ovation always balance decay, animal and vege- 
eble living forms would never perish ; an immortal 
lion, oak, or pine would be as possible as immortal 
man. But they cannot obtain with the material of 
the physical world. 

See how physical forms perish. They reach ma- 
turity strong and vigorous ; nothing appears to dis- 
turb the harmony of their being. But insidiously 
the power of decay claims mastery. The senses 
harden ; the absorbents become obstructed with 
bone-forming material, and, deposition going on in 
the bones, they become hard, almost mineral. In 
old age, they become too deficient of life to heal 
when broken. Through the important organs, as 
the heart, in its very valves on which life depends, 
bony atoms are deposited. The minute arte- 
ries thus obstructed, the muscles waste, contract, 
and harden at their points of attachment. The en- 
tire mechanism of complicated fibres, channels, cells, 
and fluids, becomes impaired, and, at length, fails 
altogether. 



266 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

It is not want of vitality : it is a necessity, grow- 
ing out of the elements of which they are formed. 

The being sets out to be immortal, but fails be- 
cause it builds with imperfect material. We are 
thus compelled to look higher, to more elevated and 
progressed matter. 

202. Origin of the Spiritual Body, 

With a proper understanding of words, we may 
employ the terms "matter" and " spirit," the latter 
meaning the ultimated elements which pervade and 
arise from and underlie the physical world. 

From the former, the physical body is created ; 
from the latter, the spiritual. This dual development 
commences with the dawn of being, and continues 
until death. The physical form appropriates the 
physical portion of the food ; the spiritual, the remain- 
ing portion. 

The two forms mature together ; one pervading, 
and being the exact copy of, the other. Such being 
the close relation between them, every impression 
made on one must affect the other. Food which 
nourishes, stimulants which excite, all exercise a 
powerful influence, — an influence felt for infinite 
time. The spirit, when it takes its departure, must 
bear the stain or beauty of its physical organism. 

203. HOW FAR THE BODY AFFECTS THE SPIRIT. 

Does the mortal affect the immortal ? Does the 
grossness of this life exert an influence on the wel- 



Spirit — its Phenomena and Laws. 267 

fare of the spirit ? Reason can make but one an- 
swer, and that in the affirmative. The Parable of 
the Sower is a beautiful illustration of the effect of 
external conditions on the spirit. The same grains, 
falling on different ground, produce widely varying 
results. If an acorn be planted in a rocky soil, it will 
grow into a distorted shrub. You may transplant that 
shrub into fertile ground, and bestow on it the best 
of care, — it will become quite different from what it 
would have been had it remained ; but it will never 
mature into the noble tree, the forest's pride, as it 
would had it been planted first in a mellow soil. 

The winged seed of the rock-maple, matured by 
sap drawn from the crevices of stony hills, is blown 
far away by the winds. Perhaps it alights on a 
barren rock, just made green by a patch of moss. 
The moss is moistened by dews, and the seed swells 
with life, thrusts forth its roots into the moss so full 
of promise, sends upwards its tiny leaflets, and 
makes fair augury of a tree like its noble parent. 
But its food soon fails. There are nights without 
dew, — it almost famishes ; there are frosts telling 
on its unprotected roots. So a century goes by, 
when a traveler, chancing to ascend the hillside, 
sees a scraggy, scarred bush, so different from what 
he has seen before that he considers it a new species 
of maple. Perhaps a seed from the same bough 
was wafted at the same time to some fertile dell, 
and now stands, straight and tall as monumental 
shaft, the pride of a century. 

As the spirit and the physical body are matured 



268 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

together ; as, while connected, they are mutually re- 
lated, — it is clearly self-evident that one cannot be 
injured without at least a sympathetic effect on the 
other. A wrong done to the immortal is retained 
forever. If a man lose a limb, he has a scar telling 
of the wound. Although he live a century, it is not 
outgrown. The least mark is indelible. If the phy- 
sical body so tenaciously retain the witnesses of 
former transgressions, how can any one expect to 
proceed for a life in a systematic course of wrong 
to his immortal nature, and escape with impunity ? 

It is a fearful mistake. The spirit is the real, of 
which the body is the fleeting shadow ; and impres- 
sions on that real, compared with those of the body, 
are as lasting as the signature of the storm and whirl- 
wind, scarred with fire on granite mountains, con- 
trasted with the fitful shadows of a phantasmagoria. 
Write a wrong on the spirit, — only the eternal ages 
can erase it. Do a deed of sin, and never can it be 
repealed. The words of the passions, their deeds 
of error, are written on the adamantine book of the 
individual's life ; and the furnace blast cannot burn 
their record out, the ocean cannot wash it away. 






XII. 



PHILOSOPHY OF DEATH. — A REVIEW OF SOME OLD 

THEORIES. 

There's no such thing as death : 

'Tis but the blossom spray, 
Sinking before the coming fruit, 

That seeks the summer's ray ; 
'Tis but the bud displaced, 

As comes the perfect flower ; 
? Tis faith exchanged for sight, 

And weariness for power. 



Nothing of him that doth fade, 
But does suffer a sea-change 
Into something rich and strange. 



The soul, the marvel of this great celestial departure which we call death, 
is here. Those who depart still remain near us : they are in a 
world of light ; but they, as tender witnesses, hover about our world of 
darkness. . . . The dead are invisible, but they are not absent. 

Victor Hugo. 

204. What is Life ? 

RICHMOND defines life as "a collection of 
phenomena which succeed each other during a 
definite time in an organized body." This definition 
applies equally well to death as to life, for in the dead 
body changes go on in succession as well as in the 
living. De Blainville defines it as " the twofold inter- 
nal movement of composition and decomposition, at 



270 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

once general and continuous ; " a definition which in- 
cludes the entire mineral world, and makes a gal- 
vanic battery a living being. " Life," says Lewes, 
" is a series of definite and successive changes, both 
of structure and composition, which take place 
within an individual without destroying his identity." 
Spencer gives this in another form : " Life is a defi- 
nite combination of heterogeneous changes, both 
simultaneous and successive." 

How completely these definitions fail will be seen 
if we suppose a philosopher, unacquainted with the 
phenomena of life, to apply any of them, and draw a 
conclusion as to what life really is. They all exclude 
its more refined mental and spiritual phenomena, 
and apply to mineral changes and mechanical con- 
trivances as well as to the complex manifestations 
of living beings. Conscious of its weakness, the lat- 
ter author adds to his definition, making it stand 
thus : " Life is a definite combination of heterogene- 
ous changes, both simultaneous and successive, 
corresponding with external co-existences and se- 
quences." Thus completed, what idea does it con- 
vey of life, with its wonderful manifestations of 
intelligence, and subtile workings of spirit ? Cut 
out of the most concrete abstractions, it fails in dis- 
tinguishing movements in a plant from those in a 
crystal. His illustration of the growth of a plant 
towards instead of away from the light is against 
him ; for solutions throw out crystals on the side 
where the light falls, rather than in an opposite 
direction. 



Philosophy of Death. 271 

205. What is Death ? 

If it be difficult to define life, equally difficult is it 
to define death. The rule which would apply to 
everything below man does not hold good with him. 
As his life stands in the way of all general expres- 
sions, so his death prevents a generalization in the 
definition of death. Ascending through all the lower 
forms of life, in his being the arch is complete ; the 
structure stands firm, erect, beautiful, after the scaf- 
folding of the body falls off. Death is change, is 
re-organization : with man, it is immortal life. 

206. Christian Idea of Death Terrible, but 
that of the ancient greeks beautiful. 

Christians have connected everything revolting 
and terrible with Death. They have painted him 
as a ghastly skeleton upon a white horse, grasping 
a spear in his fleshless hand, or as a devouring 
monster. 

They have the honor of originating these myths : 
there is nothing like them in the pagan world. The 
Greeks painted Death as a beautiful sleeping child 
or youth. In Eastern countries, it is believed that 
death results from the love of some god, who 
snatches the spirit to heaven. The Lacedemonians 
represented Death as asleep on a bed of down, 
watched by Morpheus and the Dreams. Death from 
drowning was imputed to love of the nymphs, by 
whom the spirit was conducted under water to a 



272 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

beautiful place adorned with evergreens and flowers. 
All these myths shadow the truth. The pagan was 
as near it as the Christian. If Spiritualism render 
any service, it will be in sweeping away all these 
myths, and giving in their place a positive statement 
of spirit-existence. 

207. Terrors of Death. 

Death has long been looked upon as a dreadful 
gulf, which divides the mortal life perhaps from ob- 
livion, — the vale of tears and sorrows where man's 
noble faculties would perish in the darkness of eter- 
nity. Those who pretended to have full faith in the 
belief of the church had little else but what has been 
described, — a deep, everlasting sleep of mind in the 
cold earth, to comfort them. 

A heavy veil of mist has hung over the rudimen- 
tal sphere, in regard to the great change all must 
meet when the body becomes worn and wasted, and 
many depart for the second sphere with these dread- 
ful conceptions in their minds, and with dear friends 
and relations near by whose minds are full of terror 
at the approaching scene, while the departing spirit 
approaches that gulf which, when passed over, it had 
been told could not be repassed, and from the other 
side of which no traveler could return. With these 
dark clouds encompassing the departing spirit, death 
was feared as the fell destroyer of the race ; and 
the safe and easy journey was rendered tedious, and 
a real gulf of anguish. 



Philosophy of Death. 273 

208. Myths of the Resurrection of the Body. 

The doctrine of the final resurrection of the body 
has prevented a true conception of death. No mat- 
ter to what dogmas the devotees clung, in the finale 
all agreed in this. This belief is not dependent on 
Christianity : it extended throughout the ancient 
world. In Egypt, it was the death of Osiris by the 
malignant Typhon, and restoration to life by the 
lovely Isis, which was represented in religious festi- 
vals. In Syria, it was Adonis, cut down in the bud 
of his age. Every year, his death and resurrection 
were celebrated, at Bylus, with magnificence. It 
lasted two days. The first was given to sorrow for 
his death ; the second, to universal rejoicing at his 
resurrection. In India, the same story is related, 
except that Adonis is Sita, the last consort of Maha- 
deva, whom he finds, and bears with lamentations 
around the world. In Phrygia, Atys and Cybele 
were the personages of the myth. Atys, a beautiful 
shepherd-boy, beloved of the mother of gods, sud- 
denly dies ; and she, frantic with grief, wanders over 
the world, scattering the blessings of agriculture. 
He is at last restored to her. Every year the as- 
sembled nations performed the drama with sobs and 
tears, succeeded with frantic demonstrations of joy. 
The Northmen constructed the same drama ; but 
Atys became Baldur, their god of gentleness and 
beauty. 

In the Druidic Mysteries, the initiate was led 

through the most terrible scenes, shadowing forth 
18 



274 Arcana of Spirihcalism. 

their belief in the transmigration of souls. He died, 
was buried, was resurrected. The priests inclosed 
him in a little boat, and set him adrift on the black, 
stormy waves, pointing him to a distant rock as the 
harbor of life. 

Among the Incas of Peru and the Aztecs of Mex- 
ico, the Mysteries were enacted with the horrible 
accompaniment of human sacrifice. The walls and 
floor of the obscurely lighted temple were washed 
with human blood. The initiate descended into the 
dark caverns under the temple, along a path called 
the "path of the dead." Shadows flitted before him, 
and shrieked and wailed around him, sacrificial 
knives threatened him, and dreadful pitfalls and 
snares yawned before him. At last he reached a 
narrow fissure, through which he was thrust into the 
open air, and received by awaiting thousands with 
indescribable acclamations. 

There existed, among the most prominent North- 
American Indian tribes, a dim and shadowy resem- 
blance to these systems. 

209. Christianity takes a Deep Draught from 

Paganism. 

Christianity at its rise presented the aspect of a 
new Jewish sect ; and, through the apostolic age, it 
was only the more liberal growth of the Jewish tree. 
In consequence, it imbibed the myths and dogmas 
of the Hebrew world in a great degree. Among 
these dogmas was that of the resurrection of the 



Philosophy of Death. 275 

body. Vague allusions are made to this doctrine in 
the New Testament The phrase " resurrection of 
the body" does not occur in the Scriptures, and is 
not referred to in any public creed until the fourth 
century. This was not because the doctrine was 
not believed, but because it was so generally re- 
ceived that it was not mentioned. As soon as it was 
disputed, it was at once almost unanimously affirmed, 
and its disbelief was stigmatized as heresy. The 
uniform belief of all Christendom, from the time of 
the Apostles to the present, has been that the iden- 
tical body of flesh which we now possess shall be 
resurrected, and again serve the spirit for habiliment. 
St. Augustine says, " Every man's body, however 
disposed here, shall be restored perfect in the resur- 
rection ; n and his words have never been disputed by 
orthodox Christians. 

Young, who is commonly classed with the poets, 
thus dolefully sings : — ■ 

* 

"Now charnels rattle ; scattered limbs, and all 
The various bones, obsequious to the call, 
Self-moved advance, — the neck, perhaps, to meet 
The distant head ; the distant head, the feet. 
Dreadful to view ! See, through the dusky sky, 
Fragments of bodies in confusion fly, 
To distant regions journeying, there to claim 
Deserted members, and complete the frame." 

How refreshing to turn from this disgusting scene 
of horrors, and listen to a song of truth ! — 

" If lightning were the gross, corporeal frame 
Of some angelic essence, whose bright thoughts 



276 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

As far surpassed in keen rapidity 
The lagging action of his limbs as doth 
Man's mind his clay, with like excess of speed 
To animated thought of lightnings flies 
That spirit body o'er life's deeps divine, 
Far past the golden isles of memory." 

Through the middle ages, this doctrine prevailed, 
with only an occasional dissenting voice. It was 
supported by scholasticism, with subtlest logic and 
metaphysical hair-splitting. Science has shattered 
it to dust ; but most conservative theologians still 
cling to it, and hold up its disgusting details as 
boldly and nauseatingly as ever. They contend 
that the example of Christ's resurrection proves 
the resurrection of all. A distinguished divine, Dr. 
Spring, writes : — 

" Whether buried in the earth, or floating in the 
sea, or consumed by the flames, or enriching a battle- 
field, or evaporating in the atmosphere, all, from 
Adam to the latest-born, shall wend their way to the 
great arena of the judgment. Every perished bone 
and every secret particle of dust shall obey the sum- 
mons, and come forth. If one could then look upon 
the earth, he would see it as one mighty excavated 
globe, and wonder how such countless generations 
could have found a dwelling beneath its surface/' 

When this doctrine is held up in its ugly deform- 
ity, its utter untenableness shown, and the keen 
edge of ridicule pointed against it, the Christian will 
spiritualize the whole scheme. He has no right to 
do so. The recognized authorities in theology re- 



Philosophy of Death. 277 

ceive the words literally, and it is heterodox to 
believe otherwise. 

Mohammed engrafted this dogma into his theo- 
logical system, and it is taken now in its literal sense 
by orthodox Moslems, though a powerful sect repre- 
sents the heterodox idea of spiritualization. 

210. The Resurrection of Christ. 

" The resurrection of Christ proves the resurrec- 
tion of all human bodies/' says a distinguished theo- 
logian : " Christ rose into heaven with his body of 
flesh and blood, and wears it there now, and will for- 
ever. Had he been there in body before, it would 
have been no such wonder that he should have re- 
turned with it ; but that the flesh of our flesh, and 
bone of our bone, should be seated at the right hand 
of God, is worthy of the greatest admiration." 

The Christian dogma of the resurrection of the 
body has its source in the wild speculations of Zoro- 
aster, the Persian law-giver and prophet ; and in the 
dogmas of the Egyptian priesthood. It was adopted 
by the Jews, who, in their close relations to that 
ancient people, were deeply impressed with the 
melodramatic outlines of this doctrine as taught at 
its source. The scheme ran thus : The good Or- 
muzd created man pure and happy, and to pass to a 
heavenly immortality ; but the baleful Ahriman in- 
sinuated his hateful presence, and destroyed the 
plans of the Creator by introducing corruptions 
among mankind, to be expiated by disease and death 



278 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

of the body, and the consignment of the unclothed 
spirit to the terrible sufferings of hell. 

But the great battle between the god of evil and 
the god of good goes on unceasingly ; and, in the 
end, the good shall triumph, and the evil one sink 
into discomfiture. All evil deeds will then be can- 
celed, and the original order of things restored. 
Then all souls shall have their shattered bodies re- 
stored intact, and the grand march of creation com- 
mence anew. 

If we substitute Satan for Ahriman, we have the 
Jewish doctrine complete. Satan corrupts mankind ; 
for which they suffer death, and the punishment of 
hell. The resurrection of the body restored man to 
his original condition of purity. In other words, 
God, the infinite and eternal spirit, came to earth, 
took on a human body, and ascended with it to 
heaven, and eternally retains the garments of flesh 
and blood, in order to teach man that in like manner 
his spirit will ascend. But Paul says, " Flesh and 
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." 

211. Teachings of the Bible. 

The church has misunderstood the teachings of 
the gospel. You will not accuse me of desiring to 
uphold the infallibility of the Bible. I wish to do it 
justice as a record of spiritual impressions and phe- 
nomena. Its teachings are filled with Spiritualism. 
Paul writes, " But some one will say, How are the 
dead raised up, and with what bodies do they come ? " 



Philosophy of Death. 279 

" Thou fool ! that which thou sowest, thou sowest 
not that body that shall be, but naked grain ; and 
God giveth it a body as it has pleased him." 
"There are celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies." 
"There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual 
body." " The first man is of the earth, earthy : the 
second man is the Lord from heaven." " Flesh 
and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." 
" We shall all be changed ; and bear the image of 
the heavenly, as we have borne the image of the 
earthy." 

212. Objections of Science. 

Let us look at the objections against the resur- 
rection of the flesh, and the assigned. reasons which 
render it a necessary part of the orthodox scheme 
of salvation. The dogma of a literal hell of fire 
being received, that of the resurrection is unavoida- 
ble ; for fire and physical torture cannot apply to a 
disembodied spirit. The old body must be drawn 
from the tomb, and united with the spirit, that both 
together may suffer for sins that both together have 
committed. A living Presbyterian divine, in the 
fervor of his zeal for the welfare of sinners, exclaims, 
" The bodies of the damned in the resurrection shall 
be fit dwellings for their vile minds. With all those 
fearful and horrid expressions which every base and 
malignant passion wakes up in the human counte- 
nance stamped upon it for eternity, and burned in by 
the flaming fury of their terrific wickedness, they 



280 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

will be compelled to look upon their own deformity, 
and to feel their fitting doom." 

When the reasoner starts from wrong data, he 
runs as wild a course as the mathematician when he 
begins with wrong figures to work a problem. The 
admission of the dogma of hell brought with it this 
one, still more absurd. If the body be resurrected, 
what body shall arise, — the body that died, or that 
which is possessed while in health ? Physiologists 
affirm that the fleshy portions of the body change 
in from seven to thirty days : at the end of a year, 
not a particle of the former body remains. If the 
body changes every month, we have twelve new 
bodies a year, and at threescore years and ten we 
have possessed eight hundred and forty bodies. At 
the final day, which shall be the honored seat of the 
soul ? One has as good claim as the other. Per- 
haps all will be claimed, — a theory which seems 
necessary if it be necessary for the flesh and spirit 
to suffer together for the sins conmitted together, — 
and the miserable soul will possess a body as large 
as the writhing Titan, Tityrus, whose fabled body 
covered nine acres ! If the last body be the hon- 
ored one, and resurrected just as the spirit left it, as 
a major portion of mankind die of disease, what a 
loathsome assemblage must the last day present ! 
In this case the saint will be obliged to drag his de- 
formed body through eternity ! The " living skele- 
ton " must forever remain a skeleton ; Daniel Lam- 
bert, the mammoth man, will weigh half a ton, either 
in one place or the other. The pale, sickly, cadav- 



Philosophy of Death. 281 

erous, deformed, remain pale, sickly, cadaverous, 
deformed, for ever and ever. But Dr. Hitchcock 
evades the otherwise inexplicable difficulty, by say- 
ing, " It is not necessary that the resurrected body 
should contain a single particle of the body laid in 
the grave, if it only contain particles of the same 
kind, united in the same proportion, and the com- 
pound be made to assume the same structure, as the 
natural body." What, then, becomes of the cardinal 
idea which renders resurrection necessary, the pun- 
ishment of the sinful body ? Such a resurrection 
would not at all meet the requirements and necessi- 
ties of the hypothesis. The explanation is a denial 
and desertion of the dogma, and more unreal than 
that stupendous myth. It illustrates how entangled 
the philosopher becomes when he attempts the im- 
possible task of harmonizing science and theology. 
The device is a willful subterfuge to escape the diffi- 
culty ; a forlorn hope of an expiring cause. 



XIII. 



THE CHANGE CALLED DEATH. 

For my own part, I feel myself transported with the most ardent impa- 
tience to join the society of my two departed friends. I ardently wish 
also to visit those celebrated worthies of whose honorable conduct I 
have heard and read much, or whose virtues I have myself commemo- 
rated in some of my writings. To this glorious assembly I am speedily 
advancing; and I would not be turned back in my journey, even on 
assured conditions that my youth, like that of Pelius, should again be 
restored. . . . And, after all, should this my firm persuasion of the 
soul's immortality prove to be a mere delusion, it is at least a pleasing 
delusion, and I will cherish it to my latest breath. — Cicero. 

O my sons, do not imagine, when death shall have separated me from you, 
that I shall cease to exist. ... If the souls of departed worthies did 
not watch over and guard their surviving fame, the renown of their illus- 
trious actions would soon be worn out from the memory of men. 

Cyrus, as reported by Xenophon. 

Dying, she shall be welcomed by her father, her mother, and her brother, 
in that other world. — Sophocles. 

Do not say, Socrates is buried : say that you buried my body. 

Socrates. 

213. Ultimate of Nature's Plan.. 

N" ATURE, by one plan ever pursued, seeks one 
grand and glorious aim, — the elimination of 
an immortal intelligence. From the chaotic begin- 
ning, through the monsters of the primeval slime, 
through all the evanescent forms of being, up to 
man, that plan has been undeviatingly followed, and 
that aim held in view. Without this attainment, 



The Change called Death. 283 

creation is a gigantic failure, and the results are 
objectless combinations of causes. The great tree 
of life strikes its roots deep into the soil of the ele- 
mental world, and stretches up its branches into the 
present. Its perfect fruit is man, immortal in his 
spiritual life. Such is a necessity of his constitu- 
tion. Through no other being can that result be 
reached. The laws that perfect a tiger, a lion, an 
ox, or a horse, each after its type, making them 
more and more perfect of their kind, apply to him 
physically. With them, however, the end in that 
manner is reached. After a perfect tiger or deer or 
ox is attained, what then ? Nothing. Causation in 
that direction is satisfied. After a perfect physical 
man is created, what then ? Everything. Only a 
small fragment is gained. He walks on the bound- 
aries of a vast and illimitable ocean of capabilities, 
only the means of attaining which have been ac- 
quired. Does nature satisfy herself with the bud of 
promise, the flower even, or with the mature fruit ? 

Man, as man, cannot fulfill his destiny. There is 
want of time, there is want of opportunity. A 
being, capable of infinite growth, must have infinite 
duration in which to expand. The opportunity, the 
duration, is bestowed by death. 

214, Death is not Change of Being: it is 

. Change of Sphere. 

The spirit, whether in the body or out of it, is 
the same ; so the man, who goes out of the door 



284 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

of his house, is the same individual that he was 
within. 

215. The Spirit and the Body. 

The spiritual being is severed from the physical 
body, perhaps forcibly, perhaps slowly, by the matu- 
rity of age. However severe the forces that rend 
and obliterate the mental form, they have no perma- 
nent effect on the spirit, for that is unaffected by 
physical forces or elements. If the body be crushed 
to atoms by the falling avalanche, the spirit is unaf- 
fected, because the mineral mass is a void, through 
which it passes swiftly and unharmed. So, of all 
the terrible forms in which death presents itself, the 
spirit passes the storm, leaving the body wrecked 
and shattered. The kernel is left ; and, although 
the chaff is blown away, existence remains. 

216. Man should Mature, like the Fruit of 
Autumn, before Death. 

Yet the plan of nature teaches that man should 
mature in age, and the separation take place as grad- 
ually and beautifully as the fruit drops in autumn 
from its parent limb. It is not desirable to enter 
the spirit-world before a ripe experience in this. 
There is a great loss by so doing. The instinct of 
life is a barrier against the temptation to enter the 
spirit- world. Death is fearful, and justly so, to those 
who regard it as a leap into profound darkness, and 
it is idle to talk to a heart lacerated by the iron hand 
which tears from it the dearly loved. 






The Change called Death. 285 

217. Death no Occasion for Rejoicing. 

As every extreme induces an opposite extreme, — 
from the grim picture of the fleshless skeleton with 
his remorseless scythe, from the lament and low 
moan of utter desolation, — the Spiritualist paints 
death with rapture, and entitles apotheosis "gone 
to the summer-land," "passed on," "re-born," and 
speaks of the shroud as a marriage-robe. Let us 
not be hasty. As flesh-clad spirits, we walk the 
courts of immortality as much now as we shall in 
the infinite future. We, as spirits, are now in the 
spirit-world ; and, unless we pass from this sphere 
with all its duties completed, we have nothing for 
which to rejoice. Enter the chamber of the dead, 
The senses reign supreme. They stifle our intuition. 
They have the logic of appearance. Call to the 
dear one ; and over that narrow chasm no answer 
will return. Dark, terribly still, fearfully sullen, the 
oblivion ! — Oblivion ? 

Wait, lacerated heart, and throbbing brain ; wait, 
until the senses are less active, and the interior soul 
asserts itself. Then, perhaps, you will feel more 
reconciled with fate. 

218. The Spirit after Death — how Received. 

Not alone passes the spirit to its new domain. 
Those it has loved, those gone before, are there to 
welcome it. The outcast and prodigal are met on 
the threshold by benevolent spirits, who lead them 



286 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

into the new and delightful pastures, and endeavor 
to awaken their understanding to the new and su- 
preme life they have entered. Death comes as a 
liberator. The body can no longer subserve the 
purposes of the spirit. It can only inflict pain. 
Worn out by age, destroyed by disease, or lacerated 
by casualty, it fails in its uses, and is cast off. The 
steps, by which the doorway is reached, are painful ; 
but, once there, all is rest. The quivering limbs, the 
contracting muscles, do not indicate pain, but sim- 
ply the disturbed equilibrium of forces. The spirit 
enters the clairvoyant state deeper and deeper — that 
is, more and more separated from the body — until 
the final parting. Often, while yet connected w T ith the 
body, it recognizes dear friends on the heavenly 
coast ; and, as the setting sun gilds the landscape, so 
the spirit reflects on the countenance the glories it 
beholds, and the pale lips smile sweetly, as though 
they would speak of infinite beatitudes. 

From the threshold it is led by welcoming friends, 
and introduced to its new life. It has lost nothing : 
it has gained nothing. It is the same individual, 
with no faculty diminished or increased, before whom 
extends the same vast and interminable ocean of 
progress, to be navigated only by the culture of its 
own inherent powers. 

219. Mourn not the Dead. 

The believer in this beautiful apotheosis should 
not shadow the joys of the departed by putting on 



The Change called Death. 287 

the weeds of woe. To those who regard death as 
the " King of Terrors," it may be well ; but, for him, 
it is contradictory to the belief expressed. We 
know the feelings of the lacerated heart, and deeply 
sympathize with its agonized throbs when robbed 
of its idols. Over the grave the mourner gazes 
sadly and wearily, the senses crushed and torn, and 
the spirit dimmed by the pelting rain, insensible to 
the impressions of the invisible world. The dark 
clouds of the physical senses obscure the spiritual 
sun ; and we cry out, from our rack of torture, to 
those who are gone, and over the chill void even 
echo refuses her answer. If we loved the living, we 
worship the dead. We would pay them respect. 
We would change for them the order of our lives, 
and constantly give outward expression to our grief. 
We give such expression in our garments. The 
sackcloth and ashes of the heathen devotee become 
with us crape and black satin. If the dead are 
truly dead ; if they go down to the grave as a final 
goal ; if they pass to an infinitely removed hell, or, 
almost equally deplorable, to a heaven where they 
forget us in the new scenes with which they are sur- 
rounded ; if death destroy all human emotions and 
feelings, and if we meet on the shining shore our 
departed ones as cold, intellectual passivities, — oh, 
then, let us put on, not only mourning garments, 
but the hair-cloth of the ancients, that its irritation 
may constantly remind us of our irreparable loss ! 
Let us wear it, not for a year, but for our mortal 
lives, till it cuts through nerve and sinew, and the 
>ones to their marrow. 



288 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

If, on the contrary, we receive the Spiritual phi- 
losophy, and believe that death is only the gateway 
to another, better, and brighter state of existence ; 
that the spirits of the departed are constantly around 
us, and that all that is required is a channel for us 
to receive words of love from them, — why should 
we put on the meaningless weeds of woe ? 

If our grief repeat itself on the minds of the 
departed, it is selfish in us to repine, and, by our 
sorrow, give pain to those for whom we suffer. 
Mourning garments perpetuate and keep alive this 
unwarranted grief. They are fitting for a barbarian, 
or a believer in the doctrines descended from an age 
of barbarism, but not for those who know that death 
is the usher to a higher plane of existence. 

Respect for the dead ! — not to be paid with crape 
and solemn faces, sighs and tears, but by a well- 
ordered life, that shall reflect the purity of those 
loved ones, who look down on us from the vernal 
heights of immortality. 






X I V. 

MEDIUMSHIP. 

They are the mystic lyres, 

Attuned by hands above, 
That waft from heaven's celestial choirs 

The songs of angel-love. 

I believe there is a supernatural and spiritual world, in which human spirits, 
both bad and good, live in a state of consciousness. I believe that any 
of these spirits may, according to the order of God, in the laws of their 
place of residence, have intercourse with this world, and become visible 
to mortals. — Dr. Adam Clarke. 

No man was ever truly great without divine inspiration. — Cicero. 

220. mediumship and spirit influences among 

Savages. 

THE rude and childish methods of savage tribes 
to divine the future depend on the supposed 
interferences of spiritual beings, with which they 
people the regions of the air. 

I have gathered up the various views entertained, 
by different nations and tribes, of the influence of 
spirits. Childish and conflicting as many of them 
appear to be, it will be seen that one cardinal idea 
underlies them all. 

221. The Australians. 

When the Australians desire success in the chase, 
they make a grass image of the kangaroo, and dance 
19 



290 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

around it, believing that the image gives them power 
over the real kangaroo. The same custom is found 
with the Algonquin Indians ; and they believe that 
an arrow touched with the magical medawin, fired 
into the track of an animal, arrests it in its course 
until the hunter can overtake it. Among other 
tribes, images of persons over whom injurious in- 
fluences are wished to be exerted are made, and the 
destruction of the images is supposed to affect the 
persons represented. The same custom is found 
with the Peruvians, in Borneo, and in India. 

222. The Maori. 

Among the Maori, the magicians set sticks in the 
ground, to represent each warrior who is to start on 
an expedition, and they whose sticks are blown down 
are to die. The Feejeans divine by shaking a branch 
of dry cocoanuts : if all fall off, the sick person will 
recover ; if, not he will die. They divine by observ- 
ing their limbs : if the right trembles first, it is well ; 
if the left, it is bad : by the taste of a leaf, or whether 
they can bite it through, or whether a drop of water 
will run down their arm, or drop off. 

223. The African and New Zealander. 

Even the spirit of the dead can be affected, by 
charms, incantations, and prayer, or directly through 
its body. The African fastens the jaw-bone of his 
enemy to a drum, that the constant jar may torment 



Mediums hip. 291 

him. The Indian wears the paws of the bear, or the 
tusks and teeth of savage brutes, to give him cour- 
age. The New Zealander forces small pebbles down 
the throat of an infant to harden its heart. If the 
properties of amulets pass to the wearer, much more 
would the food influence the character. The flesh 
of timid animals makes the courageous man weak, 
while that of ferocious animals gives him strength 
and courage. 

224. Connection between the Person and his 

Name. 

The supposed connection between the person and 
his name led to a diversified series of superstitions. 
The Indians of British America have the greatest 
aversion to repeating their names, as have the abori- 
ginals of the United States, of South America, and 
Van Dieman's Land. A Hindoo wife never under 
any circumstances mentions the name of her hus- 
band, a custom also observed in East Africa. The 
Kafirs extend this custom beyond the husband to his 
relatives. Savages avoid speaking the names of the 
dead with mysterious horror, speaking only by allu- 
sion. They avoid speaking the names of fatal dis- 
eases. . . . The Yezides never mention the name of 
Satan. The Laplanders dislike calling the bear by 
name, and in Asia the same dislike is found for men- 
tioning the name of the tiger. Brahma is a sacred 
name in India, as Jehovah is to the Jews, or the 
great name of Allah to the Mohammedans. To 
speak the name is to connect one's self, or get en 



292 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

rapport, with the object named. Among savage peo- 
ples, the belief in the existence and presence of spir- 
itual beings is almost universal ; and, though the 
means employed to hold converse with them may 
appear undignified and juvenile, the communications 
thus received are adapted to the wants of the re- 
ceiver. The shaking of the bunch of cocoanuts 
gives as divine a revelation to the Feejean as the 
pen of the inspired medium to another race. 

225. The Hermit of the Ganges 

Retires to the eternal solitudes of the mountain 
caverns or the impenetrable wilds, and, by fasting 
and prayer, reduces the physical body, thereby be- 
coming susceptible to the influence of immortal 
intelligences. 

226. The Red Indian, 

When arriving at the age of manhood, retires to the 
forest, and fasts until he receives a revelation. So 
do their "medicine men," by reducing the flesh, 
bring themselves in contact with the spirit. 

227. The Pythoness and Oracles. 

The prophecies of the Delphian oracle, which, 
perhaps, were the most truthful the world has ever 
possessed, were delivered by susceptible women, 
under the narcotizing influence of a subtile vapor, 
issuing from a crevice of the rocks ; and the other 



Mediums kip. 293 

Grecian oracles, though not as famous, were, at 
times, of a remarkable character. The Pythons, or 
mediums, in all instances purified themselves by 
fasting and ablution. The unclean could not enter 
the presence of the divine spirits. 

228. Position of the Medium. 

The medium occupies a fearful position. He is 
the channel through which the thoughts of angels 
flow, and the purity of their expression depends on 
the purity of his life. ... The most crystal water, 
when made to flow over bogs and marshes, becomes 
foul with slime, and the most heavenly thoughts and 
emotions become turbid and fermented to error, when 
forced through the channel furnished by an impure 
mind. 

229. Why Disreputable Media are Used. 

"But," it is asked, "why do spirits descend to 
employ such persons as mediums ? Do they not 
know that this very thing is a stumbling-block to 
the believer, and a weak point for the attack of the 
skeptic ? " 

All this is well considered ; but are you sure they 
do so from choice ? The number of persons organ- 
ized for mediums of necessity is small. There are 
thousands of spirits wishing to communicate, for one 
medium. So anxious are they, that every opportunity, 
offering the least chance for intercourse with their 
friends, is eagerly seized. 



294 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

230. Sensitiveness does not Exonerate Me- 
diums for their Waywardness. _ 

The sensitive condition, the cause of mediumship 
and its necessary accompaniment, renders the me- 
dium easily affected by surrounding circumstances. 
Hence, the waywardness of character they too often 
exhibit, and for which they are unqualifiedly cen- 
sured. They should seek the best gifts, and order 
their lives after the highest ideal. The fact of their 
mediumistic susceptibility does not remove in the 
least their responsibility ; nor can their shortcomings 
be excused by saying that they are instruments in the 
hands of controlling intelligences. No good and 
pure spirit will ever lead astray ; and if intelligences, 
whatever may be their claims, attempt to lead from 
the path of rectitude and honor, they should be at 
once discarded. True and noble spirits will ever 
urge onward in the way of right ; encourage the 
faltering, and heal the wounds of the fallen. 

231. Mediumship Constitutional. 

Mediumship, both for physical manifestations and 
of a psychological character, is purely constitutional. 
It cannot be bought or sold. It does not depend on 
moral or intellectual development. We have seen 
wonderful physical manifestations through individ- 
uals of most questionable morals, and received 
communications in writing of a very satisfactory 
character from dear departed friends, through igno- 
rant and inferior persons. 



Mediums hip. 295 

232. Influence of the Medium. 

As every medium has a personality more or less 
positive, every one colors his communications in a 
more or less decided manner. Each has a peculiar- 
ity of his own. Subtile differences in organization 
allow certain manifestations more readily than oth- 
ers ; and f by a permutation of innumerable conditions 
on the part of the medium and spirit, a wonderful 
variety of phenomena results. 

233. What is the State of Mediumship ? 

What is this peculiarity of organization, and how 
acquired ? It would be difficult to tell what it is. 
It is often, and usually is, possessed at birth ; or may 
be slowly or suddenly acquired- The spirit seems 
to have less hold of the body, and to be more sensi- 
tive for that reason. By sitting in circles, the con- 
dition may be acquired, after the manner that a 
musical string will, by repeated vibrations, become 
harmonious with another, if that be fixed. 



334. Illustration from Musical Instruments. 

If two strings are stretched with unequal ten- 
sion, — one having the points of tension fixed, while 
those of the other are movable, — the latter will not 
respond in unison with the former. But every vibra- 
tion of the first will tend to move the points of ten- 
sion of the latter, and will, after a time, bring them 
into such position that the two strings will be in 



296 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

unison. The time required to produce this result 
will depend on the violence of the vibrations, and 
the facility with which the points of support yield. 
This may result by a single vibration, or it may re- 
quire days, months, or years. 

" When a tuning-fork receives a blow, and is made 
to rest on a piano-forte during its vibrations, every 
string, which, either by its natural length or by its 
spontaneous subdivisions, is capable of executing 
corresponding vibrations, responds in a sympathetic 
note." The strings not thus in harmony remain 
silent. " Some one or other of the notes of an organ 
are generally in unison with the panes or the whole 
sash of a window, which consequently resound when 
those notes are sounded." The same effect may be 
often observed in thunder ; the sound rolling away, 
growing gradually lower, until a note is touched 
which makes the windows and the whole house jar. 
The long-continued vibrations of neighboring bodies, 
when not in unison, affect each other, every vibration 
striving to reduce the other to concord. Adjacent 
organ pipes, not in unison, will often after a time 
force each other into harmony ; and " two clocks 
whose beats differed considerably, when separate, 
have been known to beat together when fixed to 
the same wall, and one clock had forced the pendu- 
lum of another into motion, when merely standing 
on the same stone pavement." These illustrations 
may not appear at first pertinent ; but, on mature 
reflection, they will be acknowledged as the rough 
exponents, in the physical world, of the science, 



Mediums kip. 297 

adaptations, and harmonic relations of the spirit- 
ual. 

235. Influence of the Controlling Spirit. 

A spirit, determined to develop a friend as a me- 
dium, may, by constant magnetic effort, induce a 
state of harmonious vibration between himself and 
his friend, just as the fixed string, by throwing the 
other into vibration, at length, by slow approxima- 
tions, draws it into harmony, or, in other words, 
makes it echo its own notes. It then becomes a 
medium for the utterance of the other. 

236. Spirits not Evil because they Fail in 

their Communications. 

Here we have unfolded much that passes as the 
work of "evil, undeveloped spirits.' , Suppose, while 
the above-mentioned strings are out of harmony, we 
strike one, and the other vibrates : it only yields 
discord. Its tone has no resemblance to that which 
awoke it. It has spoken, but it has not spoken a 
word of what it was told to speak. Is it false ? No. 
It has made an effort, and done the best it can. 
That effort will enable it to respond more truthfully 
at the next trial. It may fail again and again, but 
sooner or later it will give forth harmonious re- 
sponses. 

While holding a seance of peculiar interest with 
Dr. D. and family, his wife's sister became subject 
to strange muscular vibrations. Some laughed, oth- 



298 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

ers wisely said it was fancy, while others would have 
said an evil spirit had taken possession. 

A few evenings after this, the family held a seance 
alone ; and a beloved brother, who was accidentally 
killed a year previous, wrote wonderful communica- 
tions through her now firm hand. The eagerness 
of the spirit rapidly broke down the opposing obsta- 
cles ; but had the friends cried, "An evil spirit ! " at 
the commencement, the nervous vibration would 
have corresponded with this opposition, until a dia- 
bolic influence would have readily suggested itself. 
There are spirits far from good, but the greatest 
prudence should be employed when judging of phe- 
nomena from the material plane. 

While the medium is passing through this transi- 
tional state, he is often violently controlled ; and the 
paper on which he essays to write is covered with 
hieroglyphical marks. With perfection of control, 
contortions and unintelligible writing will cease, and 
a beautiful sense of harmony yield exquisite thoughts, 
set to musical words. 

237. Impressibility — how Induced. 

Impressibility may be natural or induced. Fasting, 
the use of narcotics, stimulants, sickness, or loss of 
sleep, are favorable to the manifestation of the spirit- 
power. Whatever weakens the body increases im- 
pressibility, and thus allows the nearer approach of 
the spirit-world. 

Various substances from the vegetable and mine- 



Mediums kip. 299 

ral kingdoms have been employed, more especially 
by savage peoples, to induce a state of excitement 
or intoxication, whereby sensitiveness might be pro- 
duced. Tobacco, the maguey, coco, and chucuaco, 
were used by the Californians ; the coaxihuitle, or 
snake-plant, by the Aztecs ; the cassine yupon, or 
ilex, and the iris versicolor, or blue-flag, by the 
Northern Indians. 

It was the custom of the ancients to purify them- 
selves, and fast, going out into the deserts, amid 
solitude and gloom, to obtain what they mistook as 
divine inspiration. Christ went out into the wilder- 
ness, and fasted forty days. Narcotizing drugs and 
vapors were also used by the priestesses at the ora- 
cles ; and hasheesh, and other substances which ex- 
cite the brain, are now employed in the East to 
induce a delirious trance. 

The state produced by any of these methods is 
unreliable, and may be compared with the natural 
or true trance, as muscular motion, produced in the 
dead body by galvanism, may be compared with the 
movements of life. 



238. A High Degree of Mental Excitement, 
by Prostrating the Body, Awakens Spirit- 
ual Impressibility. 

P. B. Randolph has related some facts of his early 
experience, among which we regard the following as 
specially remarkable : He said, that, some eight or 
ten years ago, he followed the sea, in the capacity of 



300 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

cabin-boy. The captain and mate were severe men, 
and he was subjected to much abuse from them. On 
one occasion they had beaten him cruelly, and driven 
him to utter desperation, when he felt an interior im- 
pulse to cast himself into the sea, and so end his 
troubles. He ran for that purpose towards the side 
of the vessel ; but, just as he was about to take the 
fatal leap, he saw the apparition of an arm and hand 
rising above the water, and motioning to him to go 
back. He suddenly stopped, and nearly fell back- 
ward ; but, after persuading himself that this figure 
was a mere phantom of the imagination, he rallied, 
for a still more desperate effort, resolving not to be 
diverted from his purpose that time. As he ap- 
proached the side of the vessel, however, he saw the 
whole form of his deceased mother floating above 
the waves, and this time she addressed him, speaking 
to his internal hearing, and commanded him to de- 
sist from his purpose, saying that the time for him 
to leave the world had not yet arrived, and that there 
was an important work for him to do in the future. 
He was thus saved from the suicide's death, and 
strengthened to endure the insults of his persecu- 
tors. In several other instances, he had been saved 
from danger, and strengthened under adversity, by 
the interposition of his spirit-mother. 

239. The Exaltation produced by Sickness 

Is illustrated in the case of Prof. Hitchcock, detailed 
t>y himself in " The New-Englander," and it is one 



Mediumship. 301 

of the most striking on record. He had, " during a 
fit of sickness, day after day, visions of strange land- 
scapes spread out before him, — mountain and lake 
and forest ; vast rocks, strata upon strata, piled to the 
clouds ; the panorama of a world, shattered and up- 
heaved, disclosing the grand secrets of creation, the 
unshapely and monstrous rudiments of organic being." 
He became sensitive, by sickness, to the atmosphere 
of the strata. It is recorded by his son, that, during 
a recent illness, he saw spread out before him the 
beds of sandstone of the Connecticut Valley covered 
with tracks, and by them was enabled to determine 
points on which he had during health studied in vain. 

240. Mediumship induced by Fasting. 

The sensitive state induced by fasting is often seen 
in the case of religious enthusiasts. The practice 
was valued by all the nations of antiquity, and is yet 
held in high veneration by savages. The young In- 
dian must go out into the wilderness, and fast until 
the Great Spirit manifested himself, before he could 
become a brave. Trance and ecstasy were usually 
attained by fasting. The ideal prophet never tasted 
food, and held constant intercourse with the Deity. 
Frequently the fasting was carried to such an extent 
as to develop the most fearful form of madness. 

241. Spiritual Perceptions at Death. 

Death, by annulling the physical powers, seems to 
produce a state of clairvoyance ; and, under favorable 



302 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

circumstances, the spiritual faculties are awakened 
in a remarkable degree. 

A gentleman says, that, during partial drowning, 
"he saw, as if in a wide field, the acts of his being, 
from the first dawn of memory to the moment of 
entering the water. They were all grouped and 
arranged in the order of succession in which they 
happened, and he read the whole volume of exist- 
ence at a glance ; nay, its incidents and entities 
were photographed on his mind, limned in light? 
and the panorama of the battle of life lay before 
him. ,, 

" Miss Nancy Bailey, of Merrimac, formerly em- 
ployed in the factories here, visited Nashua last 
week, for the purchase of a wedding-dress, bonnet, 
bridal-cake, etc., preparatory to her marriage on 
Wednesday next. She had completed her pur- 
chases, and was on her way to the depot, on Satur- 
day evening, when the cars left. She therefore 
returned to the house of a friend, Mrs. Mitchell, on 
Canal Street, near the Jackson Corporation. About 
half-past three on Sunday afternoon, as she sat at 
the window, she threw up both hands, exclaiming, 
i Why, there is Mr. Drew ! ' (the name of the gentle- 
man to whom she was to be married, and who is a 
resident of Concord, Vt.) Mrs. Mitchell went to 
another window, but no one was in sight. At this 
moment a crash of glass called her attention to Miss 
Bailey, who had fallen forward against the window. 
Help was instantly called. She was placed upon a 
bed, and soon expired. 



Mediumship. 303 

" Miss Bailey was about twenty-six years old, and 
latterly had not been in perfect health. ,, 



242. Organic Impressibility Preferable to 
that which is induced. 

There is always incompleteness and imperfection 
in sensitiveness produced by the methods previously 
stated. The state may be induced by various means, 
but the most reliable is the normal organization which 
bestows sensitiveness and health at the same time. 
Sensitiveness is common to all individuals : it only 
varies in degree. It appears in intuition, discrimina- 
tion of character, and many other forms. It depends 
on the delicacy of the nervous system, — the more 
delicately this is toned, the greater its liability to 
disease ; and hence the majority of sensitives suffer 
more or less from pain. Perfect health is essential 
to the highest order of impressibility. Abstaining 
for a time from food or contact with the world con- 
duces to sensitiveness of the nervous system, but, 
carried beyond narrow limits, introverts the mind on 
itself, and destroys the essential conditions. This 
state is often seen in the insane, who are usually 
highly and painfully impressible ; but impressions of 
their own minds are received as foreign, and strange 
hallucinations result. 

The body must be pure. When inflamed with an 
improper diet, or saturated with stimulants and nar- 
cotics, the mind, reciprocating the physical condition 
thus created, is a seething mass of passions, a maga- 



304 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

zine which a spark may explode, and not willingly 
do the pure spirits approach to it. The prophets of 
old fasted and dieted, that they might gain immortal 
inspiration : they ordered their lives in purity, that 
they might allow the invisible world the closer to 
approach them. Be assured, that, although, for want 
of better, all mediums are employed, sooner or later 
those who are not lifted out of the moral sloughs 
into which they have fallen will be discarded, and 
only those who possess an upright character will be 
reserved for the noble office. 

243. Desire for Mediumship. 

Such is a general view of the conditions favorable 
to mediumship. It is not a gift to a few, but is pos- 
sible to all. Obedience to its essential requirements, 
an honest purpose, a pure heart, are demanded of 
those who would attain its highest walks. , 

244. HOW TO BECOME A MEDIUM. 

You may have natural powers as yet unawakened, 
or you may be capable of becoming mediumistic 
after sufficient trial. There is only one course. If 
you understand animal magnetism, you know that 
-the subject must become passive, and have no care 
for the result. As the law of magnetic control is 
the same, whether mortal or spirit be the operator, 
the same passivity must be observed by the medium. 
Sitting in circles is the best of all means, especially 
if a medium already developed be present. Retiring 



Mediumship. 305 

alone at a certain hour is also a good discipline. 
Anxiety to receive communications is among the 
greatest obstacles to success. Pray for the best 
gifts, and according to your possibilities your prayer 
will be answered ; for remember that the dear de- 
parted of the realms of light are equally desirous 
with yourself to converse, and will avail themselves 
of every opportunity to do so. Remember, that, 
though they avail themselves of every channel, the 
noble angels of light love best to approach the pure 
in heart and pure in body. 

245. Influence of Individuals on the Com- 
munications. 

The presence of some persons wholly prevents 
communications. Often in circles have we seen a 
single word, or the nearer approach of a particular 
person, wholly interrupt the spirit-control. This has 
occurred even when the offending person was a near 
and dear friend of the spirit purporting to communi- 
cate. Some persons have remarked, and very natu- 
rally too, that, if the spirit were the one it claimed 
to be, it would certainly continue its communica- 
tions. They did not understand the delicacy of tone 
existing between the medium and spirit, or the won- 
derful fragility of the conditions necessary for com- 
munications. It is not that the medium or the spirit 
is offended, but it becomes impossible to proceed. 
To draw an illustration from the physical world, 
take the effects of certain vapors on the processes 



20 



306 Arcana of Spirihialism. 

of photography. Prof. Draper says that the artist 
often fails in taking daguerreotypes most inexplica- 
bly. All conditions apparently are perfect, yet no 
distinct impression is made. This will always result 
if the minutest quantity of the vapor of iodine, bro- 
mine, chlorine, or other negative substance, is pres- 
ent. So sensitive is the plate to their vapors, that 
he recommends never to leave those substances in 
the same room with the camera. 

The brain of the medium and the auric chain by 
which communication is held are far more sensitive 
than the daguerrean plate to the presence of neg- 
ative bodies. The harsh word, the suggestion of 
trickery and fraud, disturb the medium in the circle 
far more than when in a normal condition ; for he is, 
by his mediumship, thrown into the most susceptible 
state his organism will allow, and the least inhar- 
mony affects his nerves with greater force. 

246. A Physical State Negative to Medium- 
ship. 

Incredulity, or a reasoning skepticism, produces 
no ill result ; but bigotry, sneering unbelief, and a 
rude curiosity, can never be gratified with satisfac- 
tory communications. Persons with such charac- 
teristics, if they are able to communicate at all, must 
do so with spirits of their own grade, — spirits who 
are not to be repelled by their insolence, and who 
are of unreliable character ; and, thereby, such in- 
quirers may be led to repudiate the whole matter. 



Mediumship. 307 

There is a physical state negative to mediumship ; 
and, in a circle, it acts directly against " control." 
This may be independent of mentality, and is of a 
purely constitutional character ; and mediums may 
fall into it by exhaustion. For this reason, there 
are times when the spirit-world is able to approach 
much nearer than at other seasons. Besides a flood- 
tide, there is an ebb-tide of inspiration. It results, 
not from the fault of the departed, but from the defi- 
ciency of the medium. 

The investigator, for the same reason, who expects 
least, usually receives most ; and it is observable that 
the most astounding tests are received when least 
expected. Strong desire and an exacting expecta- 
tion defeat themselves by re-acting on the conditions 
of passivity, which are absolutely essential. 

247. Why Communications are Contradictory. 

There are many causes beside the ready one 
usually assigned, — namely, that of evil spirits. By 
education, we regard spiritual beings as infallible 
and omniscient. They do understand more than 
we ; their views are broader, and their judgment 
more penetrating : but they are otherwise as fallible. 
We ask questions a deity only can answer ; and be- 
cause they make an attempt, and fail, or do not 
make an attempt, we are too ready to refer the 
deficiency to intentional fraud. There is as much 
diversity among spirits as among mortals, and the 
method of communication with them is not perfect. 



308 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

First, of the imperfection of the method. If a 
chemist wish to test an experiment in which delicate 
and refined manipulations are necessary, how care- 
fully he studies all the involved conditions, and how 
accurately he attempts to fulfill them ! Even then, 
employing substances he can see and feel, he often 
fails. But, of the spiritual elements, little or noth- 
ing is positively known, and it is impossible for a 
circle to fulfill every requirement. The members 
of it deal with emanations too subtile for the senses, 
yet inconceivably susceptible. Can it be thought 
strange that circles meet with disappointments ? 

The second consideration is explained by a correct 
view of spirit-life. A thousand million people toil 
and strive on earth : the rich, by depressing the 
poor, strive to grow richer ; the poor take vengeance 
on their oppressors. On one hand are the savages 
of civilization, the law-breakers ; on the other, the 
merciless artificial law gibbets the offender. On 
every side is war, deception, falsehood, jealousy, pas- 
sion, rage, hypocrisy, bigotry ; and the dark parent 
of all this foul brood, ignorance. 

The spirit-world is the extension of earthly life. 
When spirits from such earthly conditions gain 
access to a medium, they present their personality ; 
and nothing less than intentional falsehood and de- 
ception, or error through ignorance, can be expected. 

" Can an evil tree bring forth good fruit ? f " Do 
men think to gather grapes of thorns, or figs of 
thistles ? " " A tree is known by its fruit/' Then 
how can any rational mind expect to gather truth 



Mediumship. 309 

from an untruthful mind ? How arrive at the truth, 
when these thriftless minds distort and confuse the 
little truth which may be uttered through them even 
by low spirits ? How can they trust the spirits of 
those whom they would not trust while on earth ? 

Is it rational to throw away all communications, 
and declare none to be spiritual, because there is 
disagreement ? Would it be in accordance with 
reason to say there was no human race, because 
there exists disagreement among the minds which 
compose the human family ? In all the spiritual 
communications yet given, there is not the thou- 
sandth part of the contradiction that exists among 
authors on earth. 

The truth must be forced upon the human mind, 
that, after death, the spirit is as much an individual 
as before the change. Death effects no alteration 
in the form, or organization of the mind, but leaves 
the spirit the identical individual it was in this life, 
with its own peculiar thoughts and ideas. As every 
spirit is a separate being, every one thinks and acts 
for himself, at his own cost. 

248. Contradictions referable to the Circle. 

Do not men enjoy heaven on earth ? Are there 
not many who enjoy heaven forever ? Are there 
not those who carry a hell in their minds continu- 
ally ? But these " live, move, and have their being, ,, 
on the same earth ! So it is in the spirit-world, as 
has often been declared by clairvoyant mediums, 



310 Arcana of Spirifotalism. 

A circle is formed. Its members are all of a 
strongly positive character. There are spirits who 
wish to communicate. The members of the circle 
are not unfolded, and hence a spirit of narrow devel- 
opment is attracted. The circle ask questions on 
various topics, and, at length, touch on doctrinal 
themes. If the circle be of Universalists, the 
spirit will appear to be a Universalist, and will de- 
clare that there is no hell or devil, and that God is a 
being of love and benevolence. If the circle be of 
Presbyterians, the spirit will appear to adopt that 
creed, and declare there is a hell, a triune God, etc. 
If the circle be of Atheists, and ask if there be a 
God, the spirit will answer in accordance with their 
minds. If of Unitarians, then God will be a unity, 
and the spirit will agree with the circle. And, let 
the circle be composed of what sect or society it 
may, the spirit will appear to be of corresponding 
belief. Not that every spirit will thus change, but 
there are many who will. On earth, such minds 
may be seen in every community, — minds that 
ever agree with those present, let them be who 
they may, or whatsoever be their belief. They die, 
and, as their spirits change not, when they would 
converse with a circle, their opinions are entirely 
ruled by the positiveness of that circle. Here is 
one of the greatest sources of disagreement ; for 
the different circles who receive such communica- 
tions compare them, and discover contradictions. 
Suppose, that, in the Atheistic circle, there be one 
person who believes that there is a God. He asks 



Mediumship. 311 

whether it is so. The spirit never has seen such a 
being ; but, seeing the mind of the questioner so 
positive that such a being exists, it answers affirm- 
atively. Now, if the Atheist ask the same ques- 
tion, the spirit looks into all their minds, and sees 
but- one dissenting opinion. He says he has never 
seen one, and he does not believe that such a being 
exists ! In all probability, if a circle should receive 
several contradictions like this, its members would 
become disgusted, and cry, " Delusion ! ' Ignorant 
of the principles of this communication, and of the 
philosophy of the spirit-world, they are blind led by 
the blind. " And, if the blind lead the blind, both 
will fall into the ditch." 

Again, a circle is formed of low and vile charac- 
ters, who commence by swearing, and intend noth- 
ing but sport. They wish for no instruction how to 
be better, or how to become developed. Who is so 
irrational as to suppose that developed angels will 
converse with this assembly ? None, certainly. But 
spirits lower than themselves — those who love to 
lie, to cheat, and to steal, who disregard all right — 
are attracted to such a circle, and answer all ques- 
tions by lies, except so far as they may secure 
to themselves the confidence of their questioners. 
Test questions they may answer correctly. Mean- 
time, they will send those persons who repose con- 
fidence in what they say in a vain and wild chase 
after wealth. The members, of such q. circle will 
report what they have seen and heard, and how 
well they have enjoyed themselves. Those who 



312 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

know their character will say, in heart, that with 
such they want nothing in common. There are also 
spirits who delight in torture. If these can find a 
medium suitable for their purpose, they will do with 
him as they choose, making him act and speak in a 
most reprehensible manner. The position of such a 
medium is not enviable. 

Another circle is formed of honest investigators. 
Their motives are pure and worthy : their minds are 
elevated and refined. To this circle no lying tongue 
utters sentiments derogatory to the high character 
of the circle ; but the most elevated and exalted 
minds will be attracted towards the place, and there 
deliver their sublime truths. Here is a circle 
formed upon the right principles ; and its mem- 
bers can hold perfect, good, and worthy intercourse 
with the invisibles. 

249. How a Circle should be Formed. 

When a circle is to be formed, the spirits, if possi- 
ble, should determine who should compose it ; but, 
if this cannot be done, candor, purity, and harmony 
should be made necessary pre-requisites to entering 
it. The number of members is immaterial, but it is 
seldom possible for more than ten or twelve to be 
brought together in sufficient harmony. The regu- 
lar meetings should not be oftener than twice, nor 
less than once, a week. When the circle meet 
oftener than this, the conditions, by which communi- 
cations are held, become weakened ; and, if longer 



Mediumship. 3 1 3 

intervals occur, the influence of the previous circle 
is lost. Music is promotive of harmony ; a fact 
recognized in all ages. Having thus formed the 
circle, the mind should cast aside all care and anx- 
iety, and become passive ; asking nothing, but ready 
to receive whatever manifestation may occur, be it 
small or great. Remember that satisfactory results 
cannot be commanded : they must flow of their 
own accord. 



250. Responsibility of Mediumship. 

The position of the medium is one of greatest 
responsibility. As the clearest mountain-stream is 
contaminated by passing through fens and sloughs 
on its way to the sea, so the purest spiritual truths 
are distorted in their transmission through an im- 
pure or imperfect medium. It is a terrible force 
with which he deals. He should not venture to play 
with the lightning unless he understand its laws. 
If he be not conscientious, and honestly desirous of 
knowledge, it is better for him to stand aloof. Re- 
flection, thought, is the gateway of intuition. The 
gods love the worker. 

" Pray for the best gifts," and improve such as 
are given you, in the gentle spirit of humility, and 
with earnest striving for improvement. It is not 
well to scorn mundane means ; for, so far as their 
knowledge extends, men are more practical teach- 
ers than are spirits, and it is not to supply a royal 
road to knowledge for indolence that communica- 



314 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

tion is held. If mediumship does not ennoble you, 
you are the worse for it. 

Do not suppose that the spiritual agency is to fur- 
nish an easy road to learning, or that it will elevate 
you without effort on your own part. The mortal 
author is of equal authority with the spirits, and in 
some paths may be even more valuable. Written 
language has preserved the thoughts of ages, and 
none can avoid the labor of their acquisition. If 
you enter this great field, determined to make the 
truth your own, and to excel in your search, your 
impressibility will be of greatest service ; and, with 
the care and wisdom of a father or a teacher, your 
spirit-friends will guide and direct you. The higher 
the mental culture you attain to, the more impressi- 
ble you become to unrecognized truths ; and, receiv- 
ing them, you can gain a better understanding of 
them, and give them clearer expression. The me- 
dium can be an automaton, a machine for communi- 
cation, without receiving more benefit to himself 
than does the planchette when it writes : he can 
enter the sphere of ideas only by the culture of his 
intellect. 



XV. 



MEDIUMSHIP DURING SLEEP. 

All good thoughts, words, or actions, are the productions of the celestial 
world. — Zoroaster. 

Nothing so nearly resembles death as sleep ; and nothing so strongly inti- 
mates the divinity of the soul as what passes in the mind on that occa- 
sion : for the intellectual principle in man, during this state of relaxation 
and freedom from external impressions, frequently looks forward into 
futurity, and discerns events before time has yet brought them forth ; 
a plain indication of what the powers of the soul will hereafter be, 
when she shall be delivered from the restraints of her present bondage. 
■ — Xenophon. 

251. Sleep. 

THE rarest occurrences are by no means the 
most extraordinary. On the contrary, the most 
wonderful cease to attract attention, because they 
are daily presented. Every night man falls into a 
state resembling death, from which he awakes a res- 
urrected spirit. Activity and repose are alternate 
states of the body. During sleep, the waste is re- 
duced to a minimum, and the recuperating processes 
go forward with increased activity. This is the ex- 
ternal aspect of sleep ; but, on attentive study, it 
exhibits a class of phenomena equally astonishing 
and mysterious with those attending the waking 
hours, It is not a simple, but a very complex, state ; 



316 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

in which ecstasy, trance, clairvoyance, and medium- 
ship can be recognized. 



252. Dreams. 

We shall discuss the occult problem of the origin 
of dreams7 showing to what extent they are refer- 
able to impressibility, and in what degree to other 
sources. They are not susceptible of explanation 
by one common cause. The dreams of the dyspep- 
tic are entirely different from those of the prophetic 
cast. There are dreams originating from the dis- 
turbed body, and from the restless mind ; and there 
are other dreams wherein mesmeric and psychomet- 
ric influences are discernible ; and yet others, with 
high states of clairvoyance ; and still others, result- 
ing from purely spirit impressions. 

It is not presumable that the mind is more wise, 
or has greater capacity, while asleep than while it is 
awake ; yet, in the class of dreams now under dis- 
cussion, it is enabled to do what it could not do 
during its waking moments, and, what is more, it 
obtains knowledge wholly independent of the senses^ 
as is proved by the following facts : — 

It is related that a lady, blind from birth, was 
enabled in dreams to see objects distinctly, and 
describe them accurately ; yet, on post-mortem ex- 
amination, it was found that the optic nerves were 
completely destroyed. 

Harriet Martineau relates a story of an old lady, 
blind from her birth, who yet saw in her sleep ; and, 









Mediumship during Sleep. 317 

in her waking state, correctly described the cloth- 
ing of individuals. This fact has many bearings. 
If dreams are only renewed cerebral impressions, 
and we do not dream of anything of which we do 
not already know the elements, as the Spencerian 
materialists teach, how account for dreams revealing 
objects when the eye has never received a ray of 
light ? It can be done successfully only by admit- 
ting that the mind, during sleep, passes into a supe- 
rior state, and acquires new capabilities ; and does 
not such an admission strike at the basis of the 
vaunted system ? If mind can thus arise above, 
and pass beyond, its material or physical existence, 
can it be presumed that it is simply the result of 
the elements of its physical existence? If the 
mind can appreciate color and form, without ever 
having received knowledge of such qualities through 
the eye, then it is independent of the sense of vision 
for its knowledge. 

This independence of the mind is farther shown 
by the strange phenomena dreams present in their 
annihilation of time and space, thus trenching on 
the domain of spirit-existence. Every one will have 
remarked this in his own experience. 

Dr. Abercrombie speaks of a friend, who, in a 
dream, crossed the Atlantic, and spent two weeks 
in America. On re-embarking, he thought he fell 
overboard, and awoke to find that he had been 
asleep but ten minutes. 

Macnish says, that he dreamed he made a voyage 
to India, spending several days in Calcutta, con- 



318 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

tinued his journey to Egypt, visited the cataracts 
and pyramids, and held confidential interviews with 
Mohammed Ali, Cleopatra, and Saladin, the whole 
journey apparently occupying several months ; but 
he slept only an hour. 

Addison says : "There is not a more painful ac- 
tion of the mind than invention ; yet in dreams it 
works with such ease and activity, that we are not 
sensible when the faculty is employed. For in- 
stance, I believe every one, some time or other, 
dreams that he is reading books, papers, or letters ; 
in which case, invention prompts so readily that the 
mind is imposed on, and mistakes its own sugges- 
tions for the composition of another. 3 " 

Coleridge composed " Christabel " and " Kubla 
Khan" in sleep; and Tartini dreamed that the Devil 
came, and played what he afterwards wrote out as 
the " Devil's Sonata." Dr. Franklin solved difficult 
political problems, and Dr. Gregory obtained import- 
ant scientific ideas, in dreams. 

Animals frequently dream, especially the dog, to 
whom man imparts a strong magnetic influence. 
The dog is also sometimes somnambulic, as the fol- 
lowing anecdote shows : — - 

" I was attracted by a very curious sound from 
the dog, and a strange, fixed look from his eyes, 
which were set, as though glazed in death, and 
neither changed nor quivered in the slightest degree, 
though the blaze of a cheerful wood fire shone 
brightly upon them. After stretching his limbs 
several times, and whining, he gradually arose to 



Mediumship during Sleep. 319 

his feet, and assumed the attitude of pointing, in 
every particular just as I had seen him a hundred 
times in the field. When my surprise had a little 
abated, I spoke to the dog : but he manifested no 
consciousness, nor took the slightest notice of my 
voice, though several times repeated ; and it was 
only when I touched him that the spell was broken, 
when, running several times around the room, he 
quietly resumed his place before the fire." * 

253. Somnambulism 

Is to sleep what the magnetic state is to wakeful- 
ness, and presents a parallel series of phenomena, 

Many instances are recorded, and have been 
brought within the observation of many, that some 
persons will answer questions correctly when they 
are soundly asleep. Such can be made to dream 
anything desired by whispering in their ears. They, 
in other words, naturally fall into a magnetic slum- 
ber, differing only from that artificially induced by 
the superior vividness of the impressions of the 
latter. As an illustration, take the following fact 
from Macacio : — f 

" In his work on sleep, he relates a striking ex- 
ample as having occurred in his presence. It was 
in the case of a certain patient of a friend of his, 
Dr. Gromier, — a married lady, subject to hysterical 

* Quoted by S. B. Brittan. 

f Reports et Discussions. Paris, 1833. Quoted in "Foot- 
falls on the Boundaries of another World." 



320 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

affections. Finding her one day a prey to settled 
melancholy, he imagined the following to dissipate 
it. Having cast her into a magnetic sleep, he said 
to her, mentally, " Why do you lose hope ? You 
are pious : the Holy Virgin will come to your as- 
sistance. Be sure of it." Then he called up in 
his mind a vision, in which he pictured the ceiling 
of the chamber removed, groups of cherubim at 
the corners, and the Virgin, in a blaze of glory, 
descending in the midst. Suddenly the somnam- 
bule was affected with ecstacy, sank on her knees, 
and exclaimed, in a transport of joy, " Ah, my God ! 
So long — so very long — I have prayed to the Holy 
Virgin ; and now, for the first time, she comes to 
my aid ! " 

254. Spiritual Communications given in 

Dreams. 

The following facts are presented as illustrations 
and proofs of spirit-intercourse during sleep. No 
philosophy but that accepting direct spiritual influ- 
ence can explain them. 

"A farmer in one of the western counties of 
England was met by a man whom he had formerly 
employed, and who again asked for work. The 
farmer, rather with a view to be relieved from his 
importunity than with any intention of assisting 
him, told him he would think of it, and send word 
to the place where the man told him he should be 
found. Time passed on, and the farmer entirely 
forgot his promise. One night, however, he sud- 



Mediumship during Sleep. 321 

denly started from his sleep, and, awaking his wife, 
said he felt a strong impulse to set off immediately 
to the county-town, some thirty or forty miles dis- 
tant ; but why, he had not the least idea. He en- 
deavored to shake off the impression, and went to 
sleep again ; but awoke a second time with such a 
strong conviction that he must start that instant, 
that he directly rose, saddled his horse, and set off. 
On his road he had to cross a ferrv, which he could 
only do at one hour of the night, when the mail was 
carried over. He was almost certain that he should 
be too late, but nevertheless rode on, and, when he 
came to the ferry, found, greatly to his surprise, that, 
though the mail had passed over a short time pre- 
viously, the ferryman was still waiting. On his ex- 
pressing his astonishment, the boatman replied, ' Oh, 
when I was on the other side, I heard you shouting, 
and so came back again/ The farmer said he had 
not shouted ; but the other repeated his assertion 
that he had distinctly heard him call. Having 
crossed over, the farmer pursued his journey, and 
arrived at the county-town the next morning. But, 
now that he had come there, he had not the slight- 
est notion of any business to be transacted, and so 
amused himself by sauntering about the place, and 
at length entered the court where the assizes were 
being held. The prisoner at the bar had just been, 
to all appearance, proved clearly guilty, by circum- 
stantial evidence, of murder ; and he was then asked 
if he had any witnesses to call in his behalf. He 
replied, that he had no friends there ; but, looking 



322 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

around the court amongst the spectators, he recog- 
nized the farmer, who almost immediately recog- 
nized in him the man who applied to him for work. 
The farmer was instantly summoned to the witness- 
box ; and his evidence proved, beyond the possibility 
of a doubt, that, at the very hour the prisoner was 
accused of committing murder in one part of the 
county, he was applying for work in another. The 
prisoner was of course acquitted, and the farmer 
found, that, urged on by an uncontrollable impulse, 
which he could neither explain nor account for, he 
had indeed taken his midnight journey to some pur- 
pose, notwithstanding it had appeared so unreason- 
able and causeless. * This is the Lord's doing, and 
it is marvelous in our eyes.' 



y j) 



255. Presentiments. 

There are many cases recorded of persons hurry- 
ing home impelled by some presentiment. " Mr. 
M. Calderhood was once, when absent from home, 
seized with such an anxiety about his family, that, 
without being able in any way to account for it, he 
felt himself impelled to fly to them, and remove 
them from the house they were inhabiting ; one 
wing of which fell down immediately afterwards. 
No notion of such a misfortune had ever occurred 
to him, nor was there any reason whatever to expect 
it ; the accident originating from some defect in the 
foundation." 

A circumstance exactly similar to this is related, 



Mediumship during Sleep. 323 

by Stilling, of Prof. Bohm, teacher of mathematics 
at Marburg ; who, being one evening in company, 
was suddenly seized with a conviction that he ought 
to go home. As, however, he was very comfortably 
taking tea, and had nothing to do at home, he re- 
sisted the admonition ; but it returned with such 
force that at length he was obliged to yield. On 
reaching his house, he found everything as he had 
left it : but he now felt himself urged to remove his 
bed from the corner in which it stood to another ; 
but, as it had always stood there, he resisted this 
impression also. However, the resistance was vain ; 
absurd as it seemed, he felt he must do it : so he 
summoned the maid, and, with her aid, drew the bed 
to the other side of the room ; after which, he felt 
quite at ease, and returned to spend the rest of the 
evening with his friends. At ten o'clock, the party 
broke up ; and he retired home, and went to bed 
and to sleep. In the middle of the night, he was 
wakened by a loud crash ; and, on looking out, he 
saw that a large beam had fallen, bringing part of 
the ceiling with it, and was lying exactly on the spot 
his bed had occupied.* 

A gentleman residing some miles from Edinburgh 
had occasion to pass the night in that city. In the 
middle of the night, he dreamed that his house was 
on fire, and that one of his children was in the midst 
of the flames. He woke, and so strong was the im- 
pression upon his mind, that he instantly got out of 
his bed, saddled his horse, and galloped home. In 

* " Univercoelum." 



324 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

accordance with his dream, he found his house in 
flames, and, arriving in time, saved his little girl, 
about ten months old, who had been forgotten, and 
left in a room which the devouring element had just 
reached. 

A clergyman of distinguished ability and truthful- 
ness relates the following. It shows how vividly the 
mind may be impressed with the perception of for- 
eign intelligences, or that it is capable of leaving 
the body, or of acquiring or perceiving through 
spiritual senses, in either case confirming spiritual 
existence. 

" I was engaged at that time in pursuing theo- 
logical studies with the Rev. Mr. G., in a village in 
the vicinity of Boston. During the night, I seemed 
to enter a place which I had never before seen. I 
walked up the main street, which was shaded with 
large trees, noticing the prominent buildings as I 
passed them. It seemed to be Sunday evening: 
the shops were closed, and all business suspended. 
The street led me to a large building containing a 
hall. I saw horses and carriages in great numbers 
standing near. Entering the hall, I found a large 
audience gathered. It was a meeting for religious 
purposes. At last the preacher rose up, and his 
features impressed themselves upon me, and his 
very words, although he seemed an utter stranger. 
The vision made a deep impression upon my mind. 
It seemed not a dream, but a reality. 

" On the Sunday evening ensuing, I walked with a 
friend to attend a religious meeting in a neighbor- 



Mediums kip during Sleep. 325 

ing village where I had never been. On entering 
the street, it seemed familiar to me, and I remem- 
bered it to be the place I had seen in a vision a few 
days preceding. Anxious to see if my dream w r ould 
correspond with the reality throughout, I pursued 
the path which I seemed to have taken before, till it 
led me to the building, which I at once recognized. 
Entering it, the hall was familiar ; and, when the 
preacher arose, I knew him at once. The street, 
building, and preacher corresponded, in every par- 
ticular, with those impressed on my consciousness 
during the previous vision." 

I have heard my mother relate an episode of par- 
allel character in her life. She was always highly 
impressible, and was called " our family seer." She 
dreamed that she was traveling over a very moun- 
tainous country in a wagon. Being fatigued with 
riding, she alighted, and walked up a hill, from the 
summit of which she obtained a charming prospect 
of a beautiful river and its valley. 

Three years afterward, she was traveling through 
Alleghany County, N.Y., became fatigued, alighted, 
and walked. When she came to the summit of 
the hill, she thought the prospect familiar ; and, all 
at once, she remembered her dream. She had been 
there before in spirit, although not in body. 

If all we know is derived by and through the senses, 
of course knowledge of a scene we are to see three 
years hence must be denied. Ah, materialist ! with 
your sensatory scheme, how do you meet these facts 
of prescience ? Is a mind asleep more active than a 



326 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

mind awake ? We do not want to hear about " un- 
known laws of mind ; ' but, if these facts can be 
explained, let us have the explanation. 

" Mr. Robert Curtis, a citizen of Newport, Ind., 
who bears the reputation of being a very honest 
man, related to us the following wonderful state- 
ment of facts and circumstances : About twenty- 
eight years ago, he was very sick, and it was thought 
by his friends and physicians he could not live. 
Although they each and all endeavored to conceal 
their opinions from him, yet he well knew what 
their views were from conversations he overheard. 
This caused him to feel wretchedly. During this 
state of feeling, he dreamed that a man came to 
Richmond who cured him by the use of his hands. 
This made him feel better, and he commenced 
regaining his health, and in the course of a few 
months was able to go to work. About four years 
after, he became quite sick again, and from that 
time the state of his health was very poor until 
cured as hereinafter stated. About three weeks 
before Dr. A. J. Higgins came to this city, he 
dreamed again that a man came to this city, and 
that he was cured by him in the manner above 
stated. This time he saw the man distinctly in a 
dream, and retained in his memory his personal 
appearance, and knew him to be the same man he 
had dreamed about twenty-eight years ago. When 
Dr. Higgins arrived, he was impressed that he was 
the man who had come to cure him. He at once 
repaired to this city, and, on seeing Dr. Higgins, 



Mediumship during Sleep. 327 

recognized him as the man whom he had seen in his 
vision three weeks before. He applied to him for 
treatment, and, sure enough, was cured in the man- 
ner suggested in his dreams." * 

The following are related by William Fishbough, 
and are of almost parallel character : — 

" Mrs. W., a lady of unquestionable veracity, re- 
siding in Taunton, Mass., informed me, that, several 
years ago, a family, intimately related to her, removed 
to the State of Ohio. Some time subsequent to 
their removal, the family, by some untoward occur- 
rence which I do not remember, was thrown into 
deep affliction, which rendered the presence and 
sympathy of Mrs. W. very desirable. About this 
time, Mrs. W. had an impressive dream, in which 
were represented to her mind the general condition 
of the family, the appearance and architectural struc- 
ture of the house in which they resided, the species 
of the trees, and the relative positions and appear- 
ance of these and all other objects near the house. 
The whole scene, with all its minutiae, was, as it 
were, at one glance vividly daguerreotyped upon her 
mind, although she had never had the slightest de- 
scription of the place. On subsequently relating her 
dream to her friend who had returned from Ohio, he 
confirmed it as true in every particular." 

" Many of our readers will remember the blow- 
ing-up of the steamboat ■ Medora/ at Baltimore, 
several years ago, attended with the loss of many 
valuable lives. An authentic account (which I must 

* Correspondent " Religio-Philosophical Journal." 



328 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

m 

now relate from memory) subsequently appeared in 
the papers, of a sailor, belonging to a small vessel 
which plied up and down the Chesapeake Bay, fore- 
seeing the occurrence, with all its essential particu- 
lars, in a dream, a night or two before it took place. 
He related his vision to his shipmates, who of course 
deemed it unworthy of attention until after they 
heard of the fate of the steamer. The vessel to 
which the man belonged sailed up the bay on the 
day of the catastrophe ; and, as she approached the 
city of Baltimore, a vessel was seen lying at anchor 
in the harbor, with flag at half-mast. On seeing 
this, the man who had had the dream immediately 
exclaimed, 'That's for the "Medora" !.' Strange to 
say, they found that the 'Medora' had been blown 
up, and lives had been destroyed, precisely, in all 
essential particulars, as had been foreshadowed in 
the dream." 

"The reader will remember the tragedy of the mur- 
der of Mr. Adams by John C. Colt, which took place 
in New York several years ago. Two days before 
the murder of Mr. Adams, his wife dreamed twice 
that he was murdered ; and that she saw his body 
cut to pieces, and packed away in a box. The 
dreams made a deep impression upon her mind ; 
and on the disappearance of her husband, and be- 
fore he was found, she was inconsolable. The facts 
were precisely in accordance with the dream. " 

The following is a condensed account of a case 
recorded in Sunderland's " Pathetism." 

"On the night of May 11, 18 12, Mr. Williams of 



Mediums kip during Sleep. 329 

Scorrier House, near Redruth, in Cornwall, dreamed 
thrice that he saw a man shoot, with a pistol, the 
Chancellor of the Exchequer, in the lobby of the 
House of Commons. The dreams made a deep im- 
pression upon his mind ; and, the next day, he related 
them to many of his friends whom he met, describ- 
ing minutely the man whom he had seen assassi- 
nated. A friend, to whom Mr. Williams related his 
dream, recognized his description of the person as- 
sassinated as answering precisely to Mr. Perceval, 
Chancellor of the Exchequer, whom Mr. Williams 
had never seen. Shortly afterward, the news came, 
that, on the evening of the nth of May, a man of 
the name of Bellingham had shot Mr. Perceval in 
the lobby of the House of Commons, precisely as 
Mr. Williams had dreamed, and on the same night. 
After the astonishment had a little subsided, Mr. 
Williams described most particularly the appearance 
and dress of the man whom he saw in his dream 
fire the pistol, as he had before done of Mr. Per- 
ceval. About six weeks after, Mr. Williams, having 
business in town, went, accompanied by a friend, to 
the House of Commons, where he had never before 
been. Immediately that he came to the steps at the 
entrance of the lobby, he said, ' This place is as dis- 
tinctly within my recollection, in my dream, as any 
room in my house ; ' and he made the same observa- 
tion when he entered the lobby. He then pointed 
out the exact spot where Bellingham stood when he 
fired, and which Mr. Perceval had reached when he 
was struck by the ball, and where and how he fell. 



330 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

The dress, both of Mr. Perceval and Bellingham, 
agreed with the description given by Mr. Williams, 
even to the most minute particular. ,, 

" A mother, who was uneasy about the health of 
a child who was out at nurse, dreamed that it had 
been buried alive. The horrid thought woke her ; 
and she determined to set off for the place without 
a moment's delay. On her arrival, she learned, that, 
after a sudden and short illness, the child had died, 
and had just then been buried. Half frantic from 
this intelligence, she insisted upon the grave being 
opened ; and, the moment the coffin-lid was raised, 
she carried off the child in her arms. He still 
breathed, and maternal care restored him to life. 
The truth of this anecdote has been warranted. 
We have seen the child so wonderfully rescued : 
he is now, in 1843, a man in the prime of life, and 
filling an important post." 

" The Jesuit Malvenda, the author of a Commen- 
tary on the Bible, saw one night, in his sleep, a man 
laying his hand upon his chest, who announced to 
him that he would soon die. He was then in per- 
fect health, but soon after, being seized with a pul- 
monary disorder, was carried off. This is told by 
the skeptic Bayle, who relates it as a fact too well 
authenticated even for the apostle of Pyrrhonism to 
doubt." 

" Sir Humphrey Davy dreamed one night that he 
was in Italy, where he had fallen ill. The room in 
which he seemed to lie struck him in a very peculiar 
manner ; and he particularly noticed all the details 



Mediums kip during Sleep. 331 

of the furniture, etc., remarking, in his dream, how 
unlike anything English they were. In his dream, 
he appeared to be carefully nursed by a young girl, 
whose fair and delicate features were imprinted on 
his memory. After some years, Davy travelled in 
Italy, and, being taken ill there, actually found him- 
self in the very room of which he had dreamed, at- 
tended upon by the very same young woman whose 
features had made such a deep impression upon his 
mind. The reader need not be reminded of the au- 
thenticity of a statement resting upon such authority, 
eminent alike for truth that would not deceive, and 
intelligence that could not be deceived. " 

Brittan thus relates a case of spiritual impressions 
given in a dream : — 

" I made the acquaintance of a Mr. S., who has, 
in several instances, been the recipient of spiritual 
impressions, communicated generally during the 
hours of sleep. In the course of our interview, he 
related the following, which is worthy of record. 
For some time he had visited a young lady, whom 
he had selected as his companion for life. They 
had pledged their fidelity to each other, and the day 
on which it was proposed to legalize their union was 
at hand. . . . 

" We were standing on the bank of a stream, whose 
waters, like the current of human life and love, were 
divided, broken, and interrupted by many obstacles, 
when he related its vision and its fulfillment, in sub- 
stance, as follows : He slept, and dreamed of walk- 
ing on the bank of that stream. Suddenly the 



33 2 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

object of his love appeared walking by his side. 
She was arrayed in a white flowing dress. A white 
handkerchief was folded under the chin, and tied on 
top of the head. Her countenance was pale as 
marble. She walked by his side for some distance, 
and finally, extending her hand, she said, ' Reuben, 
I must leave you, — farewell ! ' — and anon disap- 
peared. 

" Several days had elapsed, when a messenger 
came in great haste to request his immediate pres- 
ence at the residence of his loved one. He obeyed 
the summons, and found her the victim of incurable 
disease. Her stricken form was invested with white 
apparel, and her whole appearance corresponded to 
his vision. He seated himself by her bedside, to 
watch the irregular and feeble pulsations which 
marked the last efforts of expiring nature. At 
length she held out her hand, which he received in 
his own ; and, as the spirit went out of its fallen 
temple, there was a faint utterance from the lips of 
mortality, and the attentive ear caught the last 
words, — i Reuben, I must leave you : farewell ! 



i )) 



256. Prophetic Dreams. 

If the preceding facts point to the communion of 
spiritual intelligences, the following more conclu- 
sively establish the proof of this intercourse. 

" About three years ago, a seafaring man by the 
name of Toombs returned to his family, who re- 
sided in this place. His widow resides here still. 



Mediums kip during Sleep. 333 

One night, not long after his return, he awoke his 
wife, telling her to look at the coffin standing by 
the side of the bed ; but she replied that she could 
not see it, nor anything in the room, as it was totally 
dark. He insisted on getting up, and looking into 
it ; as he said he saw a coffin there as truly as he 
was alive. He arose, and, on looking into it, imme- 
diately exclaimed, ' It is myself! it is me!' She 
tried to convince him the next morning that it was a 
dream ; but he said he was certain that it foreshad- 
owed his death. The second day afterward, as he 
was walking on the edge of the wharf, his foot 
slipped, he was precipitated into the river, and, be- 
fore assistance could be rendered, he was dead. 
His body was taken home, and his coffin at last 
stood in the identical place to which his attention 
had been directed in the vision." * 

" The next example I shall cite came, in part, 
within my own personal knowledge," says Moore, in 
his work on " Body and Mind." " A colleague of 
the diplomatic corps, an intimate friend of mine, 
M. de S., had engaged, for himself and his lady, 
passage to South America in a steamer, to sail on 
the ninth day of May, 1856. A few days after their 
passage was taken, a friend of theirs and mine had 
a dream, which caused her serious uneasiness. She 
saw, in her dream, a ship, in a violent storm, founder 
at sea ; and an internal intimation made her aware 
that it was the vessel on board which the S.'s pro- 
posed to embark. So lively was the impression, 

* " Univercoelum." 1848. 



334 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

that, on awakening, she could scarcely persuade 
herself that the vision was not a reality. Dropping 
again to sleep, the same dream recurred a second 
time. This increased her anxiety ; and the next 
day she asked my advice as to whether she ought 
not to state the circumstances to her friends. Hav- 
ing at that time no faith whatever in such intima- 
tions, I recommended her not to do so, since it 
would not probably cause them to change their 
plans, yet might make them uncomfortable to no 
purpose. So she suffered them to depart unadvised 
of the fact. It so happened however, as I learned 
a few weeks later, that fortuitous circumstances in- 
duced my friends to alter their first intention, and, 
having given up their places, to take passage in 
another vessel. 

"These particulars had nearly passed from my 
memory, when long afterward, being at the Rus- 
sian Minister's, his lady said to me, * How fortunate 
that our friends, the S/s, did not go in the vessel 
they had first selected ! ' — i Why so ? ' I asked. 
' Have you not heard/ she replied/ ' that the vessel 
is lost ? It must have perished at sea ; for, though 
more than six months have elapsed since it left port, 
it has never since been heard of/ 

" In this case, it will be remarked the dream was 
communicated to myself some weeks or months 
before its warning was fulfilled. It is to be con- 
ceded, however, that the chances against its fulfill- 
ment were not so great as in some of the preceding 
examples. The chances against a vessel, about to 



Mediums kip during Sleep. 335 

cross the Atlantic, being lost on that particular 
voyage are much less than are the chances against 
a man, say of middle age and in good health, dying 
on any one particular day. 

" In the next example we shall find a new element 
introduced. Mrs. S. related to me, that, residing 
in Rome, in June, 1856, she dreamed, on the thirti- 
eth day of that month, that her mother, who had been 
several years dead, appeared to her, gave her a lock 
of hair, and said, ' Be especially careful of this lock 
of hair, my child ; for it is your father's, and the 
angels will call him away from you to-morrow/ 
The effect of this dream on Mrs. S.'s spirits was 
such, that, when she awoke, she experienced the 
greatest alarm, and caused a telegraphic notice to 
be instantly despatched to England, where her 
father was, to inquire after his health. No imme- 
diate reply was received; but, when it did come, it 
was to the effect that her father had died that morn- 
ing at nine o'clock. She afterwards learned that 
two days before his death he had caused to be cut 
off a lock of his hair, and handed it to one of his 
daughters, who was attending on him, telling her it 
was for her sister in Rome. He had been ill of a 
chronic disease ; but the last account she received of 
his health had been favorable, and had given reason 
to hope that he might yet survive for some years. 

" I proceed to furnish, from among the narrratives 
of this character which have thus recently come to 
my knowledge, a few specimens, for the authenticity 
of which I can vouch. 



336 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

"In the year 181 8, Signor Alessandro Romano, 
the head of an old and highly respected Neapoli- 
tan family, was at Patu, in the province of Terra 
d'Otranto, in the kingdom of Naples. He dreamed 
one night that the wife of the Cavaliere Libetta, 
Counselor of the Supreme Court, and his friend 
and legal adviser, who was then in the city of 
Naples, was dead. Although Signor Romano had 
not heard of the Signor Libetta being ill, or even 
indisposed, yet the extreme vividness of the dream 
produced a great impression on his mind and spir- 
its ; and the next morning he repeated it to his 
family, adding that it had disturbed him greatly, not 
only on account of his friendship for the family, 
but also because the Cavaliere had then in charge 
for him a lawsuit of importance, which he feared 
this domestic affliction might cause him to neglect. 

" Patu is two hundred and eighty miles from 
Naples ; and it was several days before any confir- 
mation or refutation of Signor Romano's fears could 
be obtained. At last he received a letter from the 
Cavaliere Libetta, informing him that he had lost 
his wife by death ; and, on comparing dates, it was 
found that she died on the very night of Signor 
Romano's dream. 

" This fact was communicated to me by my friend 
Don Guiseppe Romano, son of the gentleman above 
referred to, who was living in his father's house when 
the incident took place, and heard him relate the 
dream the morning after it occurred. 

" Here is another, which was narrated to me, I 



Mediums kip during Sleep. 337 

remember, while walking, one beautiful day in June, 
in the Villa Reale (the fashionable park of Naples, 
having a magnificent view over the bay), by a mem- 
ber of the A legation, one of the most intelli- 
gent and agreeable acquaintances I made in that 
city. 

"On the 16th of October, 1850, being then in the 
city of Naples, this gentleman dreamed that he was 
by the bedside of his father, who appeared to be 
in the agonies of death, and that, after a time, he 
saw him expire. He awoke in a state of great 
excitement, bathed in cold perspiration ; and the 
impression on his mind was so strong, that he 
immediately rose, though it was still night, dressed 
himself, and wrote to his father, inquiring after his 
health. His father was then at Trieste, distant from 
Naples, by the nearest route, five days' journey ; and 
the son had no cause whatever, except the above 
dream, to be uneasy about him, seeing that his age 
did not exceed fifty, and that no intelligence of his 
illness, or even indisposition, had been received. 
He waited for a reply with some anxiety for three 
weeks, at the end of which time came an official 
communication to the chef 'of the mission, request- 
ing him to inform the son that it behooved him to 
take some legal measures in regard to the property 
of his father, who had died at Trieste, after a brief 
illness, on the sixteenth day of October. 

" It will be observed, that, in this instance, the 
agitation of mind in the dreamer was much greater 
than commonly occurs in the case of an ordinary 



22 



338 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

dream. The gentleman rose, dressed himself in the 
middle of the night, and immediately wrote to his 
father, so great was his anxiety in regard to that 
parent's fate. The same may usually be noticed in 
the record of cases in which the dream is fulfilled, 
even if the person to whom it occurs is a skeptic in 
all such presentiments. 

" Such a skeptic is Macnish, author of the • Phi- 
losophy of Sleep ; y yet he admits the effect which 
such a dream, oecurring to himself in the month of 
August, 1 861, produced upon his spirits. I quote 
the narrative in his own words : — 

" 6 1 was then in Caithness, when I dreamed that 
a near relation of my own, residing three hundred 
miles off, had suddenly died, and, immediately 
thereafter, awoke in a state of inconceivable terror, 
similar to that produced by a paroxysm of night- 
mare. The same day, happening to be writing 
home, I mentioned the circumstance in a half-jest- 
ing, half-earnest way. To tell the truth, I was afraid 
to be serious, lest I should be laughed at for putting 
any faith in dreams. However, in the interval be- 
tween writing and receiving an answer^ I remained 
in a state of most unpleasant suspense. I felt a 
presentiment that something dreadful had happened 
or would happen ; and, though I could not help 
blaming myself for a childish weakness in so feel- 
ing, I was unable to get rid of the painful idea 
which had taken such rooted possession of my 
mind. Three days after sending away the letter, 
what was my astonishment when I received one 



Mediumship during Sleep. 339 

written the day subsequent to mine, and stating 
that the relative of whom I had dreamed had been 
struck with a fatal shock of palsy the day before, — 
that is, the very day on the morning of which I had 
beheld the appearance in my dream ! I may state 
that my relative was in perfect health before the 
fatal event took place. It came upon him like a 
thunderbolt, at a period when no one could have the 
slightest anticipation of danger/ 

" Here is a witness disinterested beyond all possi- 
ble doubt ; for he is supplying evidence against his 
own opinions. But are the effects he narrates such 
as are usually produced, by a mere dream, on the 
mind of a person not affected by superstition ? In- 
conceivable terror, though there was no nightmare ; 
a presentiment lasting for days, taking rooted pos- 
session of the feelings, and which he strove in vain 
to shake off, that something dreadful had happened, 
or would happen ! Yet, with all this alarm, unnat- 
ural under ordinary circumstances, how does the 
narrator regard the case ? He sets down his terrors 
as a childish weakness, and declares, as to the coin- 
cidence which so excited his astonishment, that 
there is nothing in it to justify us in referring it to 
any other origin than chance." 

Major Andre, the circumstances of whose la- 
mented death are too well known to make it neces- 
sary for me to detail them here, was a friend of Miss 
Seward's, and, previously to his embarkation for 
America, he made a journey into Derbyshire to pay 
her a visit ; and it was arranged that they should 



34-0 Arcana of Spiritualism. \ 

ride over to see the wonders of the Peak, and intro- 
duce Andre to Newton, her minstrel, as she called 
him, and to Mr. Cunningham, the curate, who was 
also a poet. 

"While these two gentlemen were awaiting the 
arrival of their guests, of whose intention they had 
been apprised, Mr. Cunningham mentioned to New- 
ton that on the preceding night he had had a very- 
extraordinary dream, which he could not get out of 
his head. He had fancied himself in a forest ; the 
place was strange to him ; and, while looking about, 
he perceived a horseman approaching at great speed, 
who had scarcely reached the spot where the dreamer 
stood, when three men rushed out of the thicket, 
and, seizing his bridle, hurried him away, after 
closely searching his person. The countenance of 
the stranger being very interesting, the sympathy 
felt by the sleeper for his apparent misfortune awoke 
him ; but he presently fell asleep again, and dreamed 
that he was standing near a great city, among thou- 
sands of people, and that he saw the same person 
whom he had seen seized in the wood brought out, 
and suspended to a gallows. When Andre and 
Miss Seward arrived, he was horror-struck to per- 
ceive that his new acquaintance was the antetype 
and reality of the man whom he had seen in the 
dream. 

" One fact, however, may still be related, as a 
specimen of many others which occurred in Sel- 
ling's experience. Having at one time occasion to 
write on business to his friend Hess, Stilling, while 



Mediumship during Sleep. 341 

engaged in writing, suddenly felt a deep internal 
impression, as though a voice had spoken with him, 
that his friend Lavater ' would die a bloody death, — 
the death of a martyr/ He was impressed to write 
this to Hess, which he accordingly did. In ten 
weeks after Stilling had this impression, Lavater 
received a mortal wound from the hand of a Swiss 
grenadier, incited, as it was supposed, by some polit- 
ical jealousy. 

" Dr. George De Benneville, a physician and Ana- 
baptist preacher, who resided at Germantown, Pa., 
before and during the American Revolution, was 
also subject to interior impressions. Being an ex- 
ceedingly benevolent man, he spent much of his 
time in bestowing gratuitous medical attention upon 
the poor. 

" One morning he told his family that he felt im- 
pressed to ride into Philadelphia, nine miles distant, 
by a consciousness that a vessel had just arrived in 
port, having on board a poor sick sailor who needed 
his assistance. He accordingly went to Philadelphia, 
and found the sick sailor just as he had described. 

"During the Revolution, while Philadelphia was 
occupied by the British, Dr. De Benneville resided 
a portion of the time at Reading, Pa. One day 
while there, he ordered his horse and chaise, saying 
that the British had on that day evacuated Philadel- 
phia, and that matters there required his immediate 
attention. His family at first thought him wander- 
ing in his mind ; but they suffered him to depart. 
A day or two afterward, intelligence arrived that the 



342 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

British had actually evacuated Philadelphia on that 
very day." * 

The following is, if anything, of a still more pos- 
itive character, and is vouched for by high au- 
thority : — 

"In the winter of 1835-6, a schooner was frozen 
up in the upper part of the Bay of Fundy, close to 
Dorchester, which is nine miles from the River Pe- 
deudiac. During the time of her detention, she was 
intrusted to the care of a gentleman of the name of 
Clarke, who is at this time captain of the schooner 
' Julia Hallock/ trading between New York and St. 
Jago de Cuba. 

" Capt. Clarke's paternal grandmother, Mrs. Ann 
Dawe Clarke, to whom he was much attached, was 
at that time living, and, so far as he knew, well. 
She was residing at Lyme-Regis, in the County of 
Dorset, England. 

" On the night of the seventeenth day of February, 
1836, Capt. Clarke, then on board the schooner re- 
ferred to, had a dream of so vivid a character that 
it produced a great impression upon him. He 
dreamed, that, being at Lyme-Regis, he saw pass 
before him the funeral of his grandmother. He 
took note of the chief persons who composed the 
procession ; observed who were the pall-bearers, who 
were the mourners, and who was the officiating pas- 
tor. He joined the procession as it approached the 
church-yard gate, and proceeded with it to the grave. 
He thought, in his dream, that the weather was 

* " Univerccelum." 



Mediums hip during Sleep. 343 

stormy, and the ground was wet, as after a heavy- 
rain ; and he noticed that the wind, being high, 
blew the pall partly off the coffin. The graveyard 
which they entered, the old Protestant one, in the 
centre of the town, was the same in which, as 
Capt Clarke knew, their family burying-place was. 
He perfectly remembered its situation ; but, to 
his surprise, the funeral procession did not pro- 
ceed thither, but to another part of the church- 
yard, at some distance. There, still in his dream, 
he saw the open grave, partially filled with water, 
as from the rain ; and, looking into it, he particu- 
larly noticed,, floating in the water, two drowned 
field-mice. Afterward, as he thought, he conversed 
with his mother ; and she told him that the morn- 
ing had been so tempestuous that the funeral, origi- 
nally appointed for ten o'clock, had been deferred till 
four. He remarked, in reply, that it was a fortunate 
circumstance ; for, as he had just arrived in time 
to join the procession, had the funeral taken place 
in the forenoon he could not have attended it at all 

"This dream made so deep an impression on Capt. 
Clarke, that in the morning he noted the date of it 
Some time afterward, there came the news of his 
grandmother s death, with the additional particular 
that she was buried on the same day on which he, 
being in North America, had dreamed of her funeral. 

"When, four years afterward, Capt. Clarke vis- 
ited Lyme-Regis, he found that every particular of 
his dream minutely corresponded with the reality. 
The pastor, the pall-bearers, the mourners, were 



344 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

the same persons he had seen. Yet this, we may 
suppose, he might naturally have anticipated. But 
the funeral had been appointed for ten o'clock in the 
morning ; and in consequence of the tempestuous 
weather, and the heavy rain that was falling, it had 
been delayed until four in the afternoon. His 
mother, who attended the funeral, distinctly recol- 
lected that the high wind blew the pall partially off 
the coffin. In consequence of a wish expressed by 
the old lady shortly before her death, she was bur- 
ied, not in the burying-place of the family, but at 
another spot, selected by herself; and, to this spot, 
Capt. Clarke, without any indication from the fam- 
ily or otherwise, proceeded at once, as directly as 
if he had been present at the burial. Finally, on 
comparing notes with the old sexton, it appeared 
that the heavy rain of the morning had partially 
filled the grave ; and that there were actually found 
in it two field-mice, drowned. 

"This last incident, even if there were no other, 
might suffice to preclude all idea of accidental coin- 
cidence. 

" The above was narrated to me by Capt. Clarke 
himself/' says Moore, in his work on " Body and 
Mind," " with permission to use his name in attesta- 
tion of its truth." 

257. Presentiments of Death. 

Presentiments of the person's death are by no 
means rare : volumes might be filled with them. 



Mediums hip during Sleep. 345 

During the late war, I have noticed many such re- 
corded. No philosophy but spirit-impression can 
explain the origin of such presentiments ; for knowl- 
edge is conveyed, which, to say the least, is super- 
mundane, and outside of and above the capacity of 
man. To prophecy the hour of a person's departure 
has never been achieved by the reason of man. 

" Mrs. Dorothea Foos, aged ninety-nine years, 
died at her residence in Elisor Street, Baltimore, on 
Saturday evening, having lived to see five genera- 
tions. Mrs. Foos dreamed, some nine years ago, 
that she would die on the 5th of April, 1845, an d 
her acquaintances have often heard her state her 
presentiment. About ten years ago, she accident- 
ally fell out of bed, and broke her hip, and otherwise 
injured herself, so that all hopes of her recovery 
were given up ; but she steadily insisted that she 
should get about again, and not die until the 5th of 
April, 1845 \ an d singular though it be, yet such is 
the fact She did live until Saturday, the 5 th of 
April, 1845, and died on that day. 

" A young lady of this city, highly esteemed and 
respected, who had been sick for some length of 
time, but was supposed to be convalescent, had a 
dream a few nights since, in which it appeared to 
her that she would die at eight o'clock the same eve- 
ning. On awaking, she informed her family of her 
dream, and remained firmly impressed with the idea 
that she should die at the hour designated, and, 
under that belief, called her brothers and sisters 
around her, giving them good advice with reference 



346 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

to the future. Strange to say, and remarkable as it 
may seem, on the approach of eight o'clock she mani- 
fested a calm resignation, and, almost as the clock 
tolled the hour, her spirit took its flight. Thus she 
foretold, by a singular presentiment, the day and 
hour of her own death." * 

"One of the most remarkable cases of presentiment 
I know, is that which occurred not very long since 
on board one of Her Majesty's ships, when lying 
off Portsmouth. The officers being one day at the 
mess-table, a young Lieutenant P. suddenly laid 
down his knife and fork, pushed away his plate, and 
turned extremely pale. He then rose from the 
table, covering his face with his hands, and retired 
from the room. The president of the mess, suppos- 
ing him to be ill, sent one of the young men to 
inquire what was the matter. At first, Mr. P. was 
unwilling to speak ; but, on being pressed, he con- 
fessed that he had been seized by a sudden and 
irresistible impression that a brother he had, then in 
India, was dead. ' Pie died/ said he, i on the 12th of 
August, at six o'clock : I am perfectly certain of it.' 
No argument could overthrow this conviction, which, 
in due course of post, was verified to the letter. 
The young man had died at Cawnpore, at the pre- 
cise period mentioned/' f 

" Barrow, in his interesting book entitled ' The 
Bible in Spain/ gives a singular instance of presen- 
timent, — the coming event casting its shadow be- 
fore. A sailor, on coming on deck in the morning, 

* " Rochester American." \ Fisbbough. 



Mediums kip during Sleep. 347 

informed him, with deep solemnity, that, during the 
night, he had been impressed, that, in a few hours, 
he should meet his death by drowning. The sailor 
was the most active and intelligent of the crew. 
No reasoning or ridicule could efface the impression 
that he had received : it seemed written upon his 
very soul. During the evening, the wind arose, and 
freshened to a gale. The sailor in question went 
aloft to take in sail. While engaged in that duty, 
he lost his hold and footing, and fell overboard. A 
boat was immediately lowered, and every effort made 
to save him, but in vain. The narrator saw his 
face shining out like a thing of light as he sank 
fathoms deep beneath the waves." * 

Last year, on bidding my aunt adieu after a short 
visit, and hoping to see her soon, she told me in 
tears that she had a presentiment that she should 
not live until the summer had passed. When at- 
tacked at length with mortal sickness, in midsum- 
mer, she said that medicine would be unavailing, 
and prophesied the exact hour of her departure. 

There is a class of presentiments received in re- 
gard to those who are near and dear to us for which 
animal magnetism gives a partial explanation, and 
probably does account for many facts ; but spiritual 
impression must be called to fully account for oth- 
ers. The same law by which one person obtains an 
impression from another enables him to obtain an 
impression from a spirit. 

"A lady of my acquaintance correctly saw, in a 

* " Univerccelum." 



348 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

dream, all the main particulars of the burning of the 
steamboat ' Lexington/ on Long-Island Sound, a 
few years ago, on the night of the occurrence ; and, 
on awaking, she related the account to her husband 
in general terms just as it subsequently appeared in 
the newspapers." * 

It is a singular fact, that, notwithstanding their 
educational fears, children are never frightened at 
the appearance of spectres. 

" A lady with her child embarked on board a 
vessel at Jamaica, for the purpose of visiting her 
friends in England, leaving her husband quite well. 
It was a sailing packet ; and they had been some 
time at sea, when one evening, while the child was 
kneeling before her, saying his prayers previous to 
going to rest, he suddenly said, looking eagerly to 
a particular spot in the cabin, ' Mamma, pa ! * — ' Non- 
sense, my dear ! ' the mother answered : ' you know 
your papa is not here ! ' — ' He is indeed, mamma/ 
returned the child : ' he is looking at us now/ Nor 
could she convince him to the contrary. When she 
went on deck, she mentioned the circumstance to 
the captain, who thought it so strange that he said 
he would note down the date of the occurrence. 
The lady begged him not do so, saying it was at- 
taching a significance to it which would make her 
miserable. He did it, however ; and, shortly after her 
arrival in England, she learned that her husband 
had died exactly at that period. 

f 'A gentleman of this city, in whose veracity I 

* Fishbough. 



Mediums hip. during Sleep. 349 

have every confidence, recently related to me a fact 
which came under his personal knowledge, as fol- 
lows : A lady, residing with her son in one of the 
Eastern States, recently dreamed that her daughter, 
living in New York, was taken suddenly and dan- 
gerously ill. Her son dreamed the same dream on the 
same night. Though neither of them had previously 
had any faith in dreams, in this instance their dreams 
made a deep impression on their minds, and they 
mutually related and compared them on the next 
morning. Shortly afterward, a telegraphic despatch 
arrived, announcing that the daughter was severely 
and dangerously ill. The mother set off for New 
York with the first conveyance, and found her 
daughter in a condition precisely as represented 
in the dream of herself and son." 



258. Conclusions. 

It thus appears, that, during sleep, many individ- 
uals become susceptible to spirit-influence who are 
not so in the waking state. During the positive 
conditions of day, they are incapable of receiving 
impressions ; but the negative influence of night, 
and the passive state of sleep, open the gateway for 
the entrance of spiritual impressions. Sometimes, 
as is proved by preceding facts, the sleeper passes 
into a truly clairvoyant state. It is from these that 
we conclude normal sleep to be its first stage, deep- 
ening into it by imperceptible gradations. _' 

There is one other consideration, — that of the 



350 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

allegorical form in which dreams that we refer to 
impression often appear. This is susceptible of easy 
explanation. Persons usually have signs, well deter- 
mined in their own minds, by which they recognize 
the coming of events. Thus one believes, that, if 
he dream of fire, he is sure to have a quarrel ; or, of 
dark and turbulent water, that sickness is in store. 
If, it is said, a spirit can impress these signs, why 
not impress the plain truth ? We say, because the 
sign is more easily impressed. If the spirits at- 
tempted to impress the details of sickness or of dis- 
putation, they would be obliged to call into activity 
the organs of fear, combativeness, etc., which might 
at once destroy the passiveness of the person, and 
abruptly terminate their communication. By using 
a sign that the sleeper, during sleep, does not recog- 
nize as significant, they obviate this difficulty. 

But they do not employ signs except in those 
cases where from experience they have found them 
necessary. The passivity of individuals varies ; 
and often the unvarnished facts can be presented, 
even when revolting, without disturbing the essen- 
tial conditions, or not until presented, when the 
sleeper generally passes at once to wakefulness. 



XVI. 

HEAVEN AND HELL, THE SUPPOSED ABODES OF THE 

DEPARTED. 

Heaven is a place with many doors, and each one may enter in his own 
way. — Hindoo Maxim. 

259. Where Located by the Ancients. 

THE abode of the departed was placed, by the 
ancients, in unexplored regions of the globe. 
The sphericity of the earth is of recent discovery. 
The world was thought to be a level plain, bounded 
by the sea ; and the Persians thought a chain of 
inaccessible mountains, two thousand feet high, sur- 
rounded it, preventing any one from falling off. 
When the Roman general, Decius Brutus, with his 
army, reached the coast of Portugal, and for the 
first time gazed on the infinite expanse of water, 
and saw the great red sun go down into the crimson 
billows, he was seized with horror, and turned back 
the eagles of his legions. 

To the Greek and Roman, only a very small area 
was known, and their ardent imaginations reveled 
in creations outside of this geographical knowledge. 
There was ample space to locate the realms of the 
dead, and transfer the mystic under-world to the 
surface. 



35 2 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

On the starry heights of Mount Olympus, the 
synod of the gods met in luxurious bowers, and 
from its summit Jupiter thundered his mandates 
over the world. In the remote west extended the 
golden gardens of the Hesperides. In the east, the 
tall towers of the divine city of Maru pierced the 
amber light. Far in the raging desert of Ethiopia 
gleamed the banquet-hall of the blessed. In the Cen- 
tral Ocean lay the Isles of Immortality ; and far to 
the north, beyond the sunny avalanches of the Cau- 
casus, spread the happy land of the Hyperboreans. 

Those were beautiful dreams, and it is with regret 
we see the iron hand of science encroach on this 
exciting realm of poesy. 

260. The Childhood of the Race Outgrown. 

The child grows to manhood. He can no longer 
detect the face in the moon, which, in childhood, he 

so plainly saw. 

.* 

'* How pleasant were the wild beliefs 

That dwelt in legends old ! 
Alas ! to our posterity 

Will no such tales be told ? 
We know too much : scroll after scroll 

Weighs down our weary shelves. 
Our only point of ignorance 

Is centred in ourselves." 

It is the mystery, growing out of vague, unde- 
fined knowledge, which clothes the distant land with 
the poetic garb of a paradise. 



Heaven and Hell. 353 

The dying Hindoo hoped to reach the "white 
isle," the fragrant dwelling of immortal man. The 
ancient Briton, at death, found a home in the " noble 
island," far amid the dashing waves of the Western 
Ocean. 

The Hebrew Scriptures, in similar manner, re- 
ferred to the lost paradise, the Garden of Eden. 
As its reception extended among the nations, con- 
jectures were rife as to the locality of the wonder- 
land. It was once thought to be in the bosom of 
India ; then in the fragrant vales of Georgia ; then 
in the inaccessible recesses of Mesopotamia ; then 
to be some oasis in the Arabian desert, where life 
met death in strange contrast, and the weary pilgrim 
saw the spirit-like palm, shading the sparkling foun- 
tain, in the midst of desolation. 

The cosmography of the twelfth century confined 
paradise to the extreme eastern part of Asia, made 
inaccessible by a wall of fire, surrounding it, and as- 
cending to heaven. * 

Still later, the Canaries were named the Fortunate 
Islands, from a supposition that they were the origi- 
nal Eden. To discover the original site of Eden 
was one of the strong motives actuating Columbus 
in his voyage to the west. 

261. Located beneath the Earth. 

The most popular ancient belief of Jews, Greeks, 
Romans, Etruscans, Germans, and Christians, was, 
that beneath the earth there was a vast, gloomy 
23 



354 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

world of the dead. This was held by the Scandina- 
vian nations, and lingered to recent times in the 
beautiful fictions of elves and fairies. Its name was 
derived from the grave. The Hebrew word " sheol? 
and the Greek " hades" meant the grave. It was a 
dark, gloomy world of shadows, from which only a 
few peerless heroes and sages, by the interference 
of the gods, were transplanted to Elysium. The 
classical description of this abode is terrible, — a 
scene of gloom, of passion ; suffering, or a lethargic 
state that only relieves from suffering. 

From Hades lead two paths, — one to Elysium, 
one to Tartarus. If the blessed spirit reached the 
former, life became a joy. Flowery fields, fragrant 
breezes, social happiness in friendly reunions, con- 
tributed to his peace. Here the hero-gods of 
pagans, and the saints of the Christians, found 
repose. 

If the doomed spirit walked the other path, it 
reached Tartarus, where the old earth-giants lay, 
transfixed with thunderbolts, like mountain masses 
half concealed by cinders and lava. The furies 
are seen in the darkness, by the light of the riv- 
ers of fire on the banks of which they stand. All 
around groan the wretched sinners, torn by tor- 
tures, the recital of which curdles the blood. Here 
is the pagan system, worked up by the Romish hier- 
archy into purgatory, paradise, and hell. Hades 
is the probationary stage. In quite modern times, 
excited ecclesiastics have seriously taught that vol- 
canoes were entrances to the awful under-world, 



Heaven and Hell. 355 

and many a legend now told records this early 
belief. 

262. Heaven above the Clouds. 

The cloudland has not been left unoccupied. 
There the Caledonians fixed their realm of shades. 
The vast atmosphere is the hall of spirit-existence. 
The departed heroes ride on the wings of the tem- 
pest. The shriek of the wind, the bellow of the 
thunder, are their voices, and the lightning flames 
their red eyes of wrath. 

The Lapland heaven is in the pure regions of the 
aurora borealis. The streamers are the play of the 
departed. 

263. Heaven between the Earth and Moon. 

The Platonists located heaven in the space be- 
tween the earth and moon. The Manichaeans 
thought the departed went to the moon, where 
their sins were washed away ; and then to the sun, 
to be purified by fire. 

The Hebrews thought the sky a solid arch, sup- 
porting an inexhaustible supply of water, beyond 
which dwelt God and his angels in regal splendor. 
This conjecture of a solid firmament the ignorant 
mind at once receives as direct evidence of the 
senses, and is world-wide. Beyond the solid firma- 
ment, in which the stars are set, a mysterious region 
of space exists, which invites the fancy to people 
with its own creations. 



356 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

264. Heaven in the Sun. 

The Aztecs and Incas regarded the sun as the 
third and highest state of future existence. While 
the wicked, comprising the great majority, were con- 
fined in everlasting darkness, and a second state of 
innocent contentment was enjoyed by those more 
favorable to the gods, the heroes who fell in battle, 
and sacrificial victims, passed directly to the sun, to 
follow his shining course through the heavens ; and, 
after years, they became the spirits of the clouds, 
and singing birds, reveling in the rich fragrance of 
the gardens of paradise. It is extremely singular, 
that, with this complexity and variety of being for 
the future life, these strange races assigned no form 
of physical torture, which is often the first notion 
of the after-life to suggest itself to rude minds. 

265. Comets the Location of Hell. 

The diffusion of astronomical knowledge has broken 
the heavenly crystalline sphere to fragments : but the- 
ologians are not at a loss to avail themselves of the 
smattering of science they usually acquire ; and a 
comet, appearing in the celebrated Dr. Whiston's 
time, convinced him that it was the real hell so long 
sought. He thought it admirably contrived for pun- 
ishment, — rushing to the sun, and acquiring a tem- 
perature thousands of degrees above molten iron, 
and then traversing regions of space where the cold 
reaches an intensity inappreciable to us. Truly, 



Heaven and HelL 357 

this is a fine arrangement for torture. God's wrath 
has fixed itself in the mechanism of the cosmos ! 
In the cometary hell, the undying soul oscillates be- 
tween the extremes of heat and cold, suffering from 
a kind of intermittent fever. 

266. Heaven the Actual of Desires. 

Heaven, as idealized by the world-weary, is a place 
of eternal rest. It is not strange that such should 
be the toiler's dream of felicity. Bowed beneath the 
excessive labor of this life, without means of escaping 
its drudgery, or a hope of bettering his condition, to 
him the most desirable state possible is one of rest. 

Heaven is always what the mind most desires.! 
The weary traveler in the desert, famished and 
dying with thirst, has no higher aspiration than the 
palm groves of an oasis, with its leaping fountains 
and luscious dates, where, sheltered from the sun's 
fierce rays, he can slake his thirst, satisfy his hunger, 
and repose in undisturbed quietude. 

It is thus with those weary of life's incessant 
struggle. The mass of mankind are born to poverty 
and labor. Their lives are an unceasing battle with 
hunger and cold. They have no moments of recrea- 
tion, wherein the noble aspirations which the lowest 
human being is capable of feeling can be gratified. 

267. Why Another State is asked for. 

At death, after fourscore years of struggling, when 
we look back across the fleeting years, when we ret- 



V 



35 8 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

rospect all we have done, how small has been the 
work accomplished ! We have supported the wants 
of the body as best we could, and have given it 
bread to appease its hunger, and protected it from 
cold, but many find it impossible to supply even a 
crust and a ragged garment. The superior spirit- 
ual nature lies an uncultivated waste; briers and 
brambles, slimy morasses and hideous dismal swamps, 
everywhere. 

When the old man asks himself, " What have I 
accomplished in all my past life ? ' too often his 
answer is, " You have existed ; just existed!' The 
worl4 never knew it possessed you ; and, when you 
die, it will not miss you. You have existed. 

The man feels such to be his history, and his un- 
satisfied spirit prays for another state, where he can 
retrieve the mistakes of this, and find ideal happi- 
ness. The form of that happiness varies with each 
individual. What one considers as most delightful 
is not so to another ; but the main idea promul- 
gated by Christianity is of rest Heaven is where 
the wicked shall cease from striving, and the weary 
shall be at rest. 



268. The "New Jerusalem." 

The " New Jerusalem " of the church is a celestial 
city, which, if words mean anything, is believed to 
be founded for the express accommodation of earthly 
mortals. Some genius, skilled in theological dog- 
mas, has instituted the following calculations, from 



Heaven and Hell. 359 

data furnished by the Bible, and his results have 
been published by leading orthodox journals. 

"And he measured the city with the reed, twelve 
thousand furlongs. The length, the breadth, and 
the height of it are equal. Rev. xxi. 16. 

" Twelve thousand furlongs — 7,920,000 feet, cubed, 
is 496,793,088,000,000,000,000 cubic feet. Half of 
this we will reserve for the throne of God and court 
of heaven, and half the balance for streets, leaving 
a remainder of 124,198,272,000,000,000,000 cubic 
feet. Divide this by 4066, the cubical feet in a room 
16 feet square and 16 feet high, and there will be 
30,321,843,750,000,000 rooms. 

" We will now suppose that the world always did, 
and always will, contain 900,000,000 inhabitants, 
and that a generation lasts 33 years and 4 months, 
making 2,700,000,000 every century, and that the 
world will stand 100,000 years, making in all 270,- 
000,000,000,000 inhabitants. Then suppose there 
were a hundred such worlds equal to this in number 
of inhabitants and duration of years, making a total 
of 270,000,000,000,000,000 persons ; then there would 
be a room 16 feet square for each person, and yet 
there would be room." 

Whoever the author of this sublime nonsense of 
mathematics may be, he has exhibited the folly and 
ignorance of the day. Is humanity to be thrust 
into such a dove-cote of a heaven ? Are we to be 
incarcerated for eternity in such a gigantic bee-comb ? 
Every rational sense forbids. Such is the church 
view of the future life. How degrading ! how pue- 



360 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

rile ! how unmanly ! Let the waters of Lethe close 
over the soul forever, let oblivion's wing nestle it, 
rather than endure a spiritual existence in such a 
place ! The streets of gold, and throne of God cov- 
ered with precious stones ! What a show of learn- 
ing ! How little sense ! Contemplate the mikly- 
way. Every sweep of the telescope brings thou- 
sands and thousands of suns to view, each having 
its fleet of attendant worlds. If each of the worlds 
which flash through the crystal vault of night were 
to send a single delegate to the throne of God, this 
heaven would overflow, being packed to its utmost 
capacity. 

Such a heaven would be the grand miracle of cre- 
ation, such as an Oriental despot would build could 
he possess Aladdin's lamp, and have all his desires 
gratified by the discovery. 

It is not the sage's heaven, nor that of the ra- 
tional man, any more than is the sensual paradise of 
Mohammed. 

In this nonsense, the mathematician omitted what, 
in theological discussions, is of most vital import- 
ance. He has assumed that all mankind are to be 
saved, when any divine would have assured him that 
at least nine out of ten are doomed to quite another 
place. According to his calculations, the " Celestial 
City" has been created many times too large for the 
accommodation of earth. 

Many will go in through the church, if not other- 
wise. Men with arithmetics for consciences, and 
vultures for hearts, are entering through the church 



Heaven and HelL 361 

doors, and obsequious divines are bowing them 
through just because their hearts are vultures, and 
fat with prey. Ah ! is there a police in the streets 
of the « Celestial City " ? 

The soul in the Christian heaven is not quite 
at rest. One faculty is retained. It can sing. Di- 
vines say that this is about the only employment 
of ransomed souls, — singing praises to God on 
golden harps ! They always sing a tune of praise. 
What a delightful world, where all emotions are lost 
in swells of music ! Is heaven to be a singing- 
school ? 

This ideal is higher, but of the same kind, as that 
of the Hottentot, who dreams of heaven as an im- 
mense cauldron of soup walled in by sausages. 
Nor is it far from Mohammed's paradise, gratifying 
to Orientals, peopled with houri, sweeter and more 
beautiful than visions of beauty, and perfumed with 
musk. 

Such beliefs debase instead of elevate. They are 
the ideals of individuals, not humanity's desires. 
They answer not its prayers. On the one hand, 
they present ignoble and unworthy incentives : on 
the other, they appeal to the lowest passions of man. 
The same may be said of the ideal of hell, an imagi- 
nary region concocted from the Greek idea of 
Hades, by the imagination of bigoted sectaries. 
Superstition, the child of ignorance, united with 
bigotry, offspring of malice and hate, personified a 
God possessing these qualities pre-eminently; and 
this God, in his vindictiveness, forms a hell where he 



362 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

chains the spirit, cursed with immortality, to suffer 
inconceivable tortures. 



269. The Popular, Evangelical Idea of 

Heaven 

Is a narrow place, where the soul, so happy at its 
narrow escape from torment, thinks of nothing but 
a song of praise ; and hell is a burning pit where 
their God can wreak out his vengeance. 

In human affairs, law never punishes for punish- 
ment's sake, but for some benefit intended. But 
this punishment has no such meaning. It is given 
after the whole world has been judged, and no more 
offences can be committed. Then the major por- 
tions of humanity are thrust into eternal perdition. 

The bigoted church-member, who has held false- 
hood cheap, and conscience a bad guide, but has 
made long prayers, and paid his parson, will have the 
extreme satisfaction of seeing the infidel, who has 
comforted his fellow-man, and endeavored to aid the 
needy, and share their burdens with the suffering, 
go down into the maelstrom of fire. If he has an 
enemy, that enemy is predestined for wrath. He 
has no faith in himself. He believes deeds of no 
avail \ belief is all in all. And in that he is right. 

As a red-faced divine, bloated with a high salary 
and "faith in godliness, ,, remarked, "If we reject 
our Saviour, and depend on ourselves, we depend on 
a poor staff! " He knew very well that he could not 
depend on himself* 



Heaven and Hell. 363 

Away with this demoniac doctrine, sanctioning 
malice, hate, revenge, the foul brood engendered 
in the dark struggles of man's passionate nature ! 
Away with doctrines representing the Supreme 
Ruler of the universe as more satanic than Satan ; 
representing Him who dwells in light unapproach- 
able, whose attributes are infinite love, justice, and 
truth, as gratifying infinite revenge ! 

How horrid are these doctrines ! how repugnant to 
humanity ! how contrary to reason ! Confession of 
sins, prayer, eating a morsel of bread, subscribing a 
ritual and baptism, ordaining a man for heaven, while 
the omission of these dooms him to hell ! 

The Catholic confesses his sins to a priest, and is 
forgiven : the Protestant sets the priest partially 
aside, and appeals directly to the Son of God, acting 
as his own priest, and obtains forgiveness. Belief 
is all that is required, — faith, faith, faith. Nothing 
that one can do balances a farthing in his favor. 
Prayer and belief outweigh all the good deeds of a 
lifetime. My infidel friend, you are stigmatized 
while living, and the chances are all against you 
after death. The holy church will not even open 
its portals for your funeral ceremonies, unless its 
anointed preacher officiates, and preaches you straight 
to destruction, and holds you up as an example and 
warning to all. Perhaps, in unwonted benevolence, 
a hope for you will be expressed, but so dubiously 
that it implies more than direct assertion. 

And, over childhood's tiny grave, the agonized 
mother is reminded of infant depravity by the godly 



364 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

preacher. Unregenerated, depraved infants ! O hu- 
manity ! how awful the depths of thy conception 
where superstition and bigotry control ! Emotion, 
feeling, the noble and generous and angelic thought, 
is blotted out ; and hate, misanthropy, malice, re- 
venge, are mistaken for the love of God. I appeal 
to the mother for decision. Mother ! behold your 
child nestling in your arms, beautiful as a vision ; 
its sunny curls falling over its high forehead, its 
eyes joyous as heaven, its smiles an angel's gleam, 
— do you hold to your heart a depraved being, who, 
until regenerated, is a demon ? 

I anticipate your answer, as I anticipate that of 
Mother Nature, when asked, whether all mankind, 
whom she holds to her bosom, are depraved.. Man's 
fall, his inherent depravity, his redemption through 
sacrifice, and his final heaven or hell, are intricately 
blended, logical sequences of each other, and rivals 
in absurdity. 

The churches are fast being forced to admit that 
the Adamic creation is a myth ; andj science demon- 
strates that man, so far from being created perfect, 
was ushered into existence a nude savage. His 
history has been one of progress. He has never 
retrograded, never fallen ; but step by step has he 
conquered ignorance, tamed the elements, bound 
the forces of nature, until the present time, wherein ■ 
he stands superior to any past age. 

Man fallen ? Then is civilized man below the 
savage ! Progress is retrogression, and noonday is 
Egyptian night ! 



Heaven and HelL 365 

It is quite certain, that, had we not what is called 
revelation, we never should have dreamed of man's 
fall, and still less of his redemption through the sac- 
rifice of another. They are a part of the theological 
trappings, outgrowths of ignorance forced on a bet- 
ter age, and only serve to fetter its power. 

But, it is said, the church does not believe in a 
hell now. Why then, because a Beecher chooses to 
deny its existence, is there such a clang and clatter 
in church circles ? Don't believe in it ? It cannot 
do otherwise. It can do without a heaven, or a 
God ; but it cannot do without a hell, or a devil. 

Heaven and hell, as those terms are understood, 
mean harmony and discord. They are not localities, 
but conditions of mind. 

As God is associated with happiness, or heaven, 
so is evil personified in a devil, or hell. All good- 
ness is centred in one, all evil in the other. 

270. The Artists and their Influence on the 
Features and Character. 

We are not to suppose heaven or hell all in the 
future. They are not to be reached by death, but 
are already with us. We shall reach them continu- 
ally through all the future eons. They are of yester- 
day, to-day, and to-morrow. We constantly express, 
in our physical contour, the motives which actuate 
us. The indwelling devil or angel cannot and will 
not be concealed. 

As the blossom expresses a prophecy of autumn, 



366 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

so youth reveals the infinite possibilities of man- 
hood Man and woman, words standing for the 
crowning glories of creation ; yet how strangely 
contradictory thereto are the faces one meets in 
the streets ! Men and women, who should meet 
us radiant as immortal angels, pass us like dis- 
turbed demons. Childhood is beautiful ; but, as 
soon as we pass that boundary, how the features 
distort ! how ugly they become ! Why is this ? 
Because every faculty of the mind is a sculptor who 
incessantly works with finest chisel at the features. 
Sleeping or waking, constantly they mold the plas- 
tic clay. They are never satisfied with their model. 
The passions chisel their wrinkles and lines, deep, 
terribly deep, and hideous ; and the intellect and the 
morals set their artists to smooth them out, polish 
them off, and sharpen the outlines. Yield to the 
former, and the countenance becomes ugly and 
coarse and brutal, more and more so, from year to 
year ; and, when old, the man is animal and repul- 
sive. But, if the intellect and the morals are 
allowed to work, the man becomes beautiful, and 
the aged somewhat divine. Delicate artists are 
these. They force the plastic body to become an 
exact semblance of the mind. They pluck the 
hairs from the head ; they polish the scalp ; they 
sprinkle with gray ; they stoop the form ; they hold 
it erect ; they change the tone of the voice, the 
laugh, and the glance of the eye. How terrible is 
the work of some of these artists ! The bloated 
form, the leering eye, the foul blood revealed in 



Heaven and Hell. 367 

purple veins, the thin white locks, the palsied step, 
the feeble intellect, — such models fill the world. 
^How beautiful the image of noble age, when from 
\ the cradle the artists of truthful and living thoughts, 
J of the keen intellect and godlike morality, and the 
I sensitive chisels of spirituality, have constantly la- 
bored, toning down, softening, sharpening, and vivi- 
fying the features ! Such men we sometimes see 
reposing on the brink of the river of time ; and they 
always electrify our souls, and fill us with emulation. 
They are like gleams of golden sunlight amid dark- 
.. ness, and quicken our faith in immortality. 



271. Election — -how Known, 



It is a question often asked by Christians, " Am I 
elected for heaven ? " 

It is presumable they were, for they set out in the 
prescribed route, joined a church, and assented to a 
creed, but they have no certain knowledge. There 
are marks by which a church-member can readily 
be distinguished from the so-called worldling ; but 
the marks by which a church-member elect can be 
distinguished are more obscure. Hence Christians 
are often, if not always, in doubt. 

They need not be ; for their lives, their thoughts, 
and actions, tell them each day, each hour, where 
they are, and whither they are going. 

Can we then doubt the future of that man who 
gloats over that part of the judgment which thrusts 
nine-tenths of humanity into utter darkness, and 



368 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

gnashing of teeth ? He who desires such a finale 
would be first to share it were it real. 



272. From whence came these Dogmas ? 

It is difficult to determine except by comparative 
mythology. They, with many other dogmas, — the 
resurrection of the body, the fall, &c., — sprang ori- 
ginally from the heated imagination of savage men, 
who understood little of nature, and less of them- 
selves. The mythology of the ancients, scorned 
and despised with loathing by the church, reveals 
a wonderful story. It contains the germ of theol- 
ogy. The Greeks and Romans believed in a state 
called Hades, or the region of departed spirits. 
This they divided into Elysium and Tartarus. It 
was located, both by Jew and Pagan, in the interior 
of the earth, or, as they understood, supposing the 
earth to be flat, beneath its foundation. Hence the 
word came to express darkness and obscurity. 

Impressed with the correspondence which -must 
exist between things spiritual and things physical, 
the ancients believed that the departed spirit or 
shade retained all its faculties, thoughts, feelings, 
desires, and in a phantom world pursued imaginary 
occupations corresponding to those most pleasing to 
it while on earth. 

This primitive idea, the belief in a future life, 
gathered around it the wildest and the greatest 
fancies of poesy. 

To the Egyptians, more than to any other people, 



Heaven and Hell. 369 

theology owes -its dogmas. It has derived them 
from their simple customs. It has transferred his- 
tory into the future life. In Egypt, when a person 
died, even if a king, his corpse was carried over 
the Lake Styx, at night, by a ferryman, Charon, to 
the judges of the dead. All his good deeds were 
balanced against his evil. If the latter predomi- 
nated, the corpse was refused the honor of being 
embalmed by the inexorable judge. As they 
believed, that, unless the body was preserved, the 
spirit could not enter it again, — either perishing, or 
wandering in darkness, — it was the most fearful of 
punishments. 

The Greek poets translated it beyond this life, 
and gave the judges power over the departed spirit. 
Christianity has adopted the myth, with the resur- 
rection of bones and the scattered dust of mummies, 
and substituted Christ for the judge of the dead, 
hell for Tartarus, paradise for the Elysian Fields. 

Greek imagination then possessed a wide and 
exhaustless field. It peopled Tartarus with spirits 
who had, while mortal, offended the gods, and pic- 
tured exquisite suffering for each offender, — starva- 
tion, with fruits and food suspended only a hair's 
breadth beyond reach ; a burning thirst, with un- 
attainable water gushing past ; and similar pun- 
ishments, — that made immortality a curse, and 
annihilation a blessing. In the Elysian Fields 
dwelt good and perfect spirits, enjoying, in the most 
delicious climate, everything they desired. These 

myths have been fostered from age to age, always 
24 



370 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

combined with the religious element, always its 
concrete expression. 

They have been nurtured by theological teachers, 
for they support the entire fabric of Christianity. 
It will be readily seen that a devil is as necessary 
to its schemes as is a God, and much more so. Hell 
is a resultant of heaven. If reward for right-doing 
be offered, there must be punishment for wrong 
action. 

Hell, the " burning pit," the " heated furnace," 
where " the worm " — man — dieth not, and the 
fire is unquenched, where even one drop of water 
is denied the parched tongue, is the place where 
an all-just God sends the children of men, whom he 
has created in his own image ; created just as he 
desired to create them ; sends them there because they 
are as he made them, and do as he intended them to 
do ! Such is the teaching of the Christian Church. 

« 
273. The Terrors of Hell. 

Hell is the place unspeakably awful, where the 
redeemed will have the holy joy of seeing their 
friends, their dearest relations, their bosom compan- 
ions, burning in the sullen waves ! It is the place 
where the pious churchman will have the unspeak- 
able satisfaction of seeing his infidel brother at last 
brought to realize the truth by experience, and 
where he will suffer the wrath of a justly indignant 
Godhead ! 

In this enlightened day, is there one who believes 



Heaven and Hell. 371 

a doctrine so monstrous, — so opposed to humanity, 
and such a libel on God ? There are many who say 
they do believe ; and whoever has attended a revival 
well knows that these dogmas are a part of the ma- 
chinery by which the bewildered convert is urged 
forward to what has rightly been called the "anxious 
seat," and into the church wherein his manliness and 
individuality are swallowed up. 

The preacher speaks gently of the beauty of 
heaven ; the joy of the redeemed ; then of the 
sinfulness and weakness of that worm of the dust, 

— man, and his utter inability to save himself. He 
can only expect salvation through Christ, resting on 
his sufferings for us poor sinners. Then, when the 
partial convert begins dimly to feel his position, the 
preacher bursts on him in tones of thunder, " Hell 
is beneath you, and Satan behind you ; fly, fly from 
the wrath to come ! fly ! " Where ? " To the church, 

— to our church. Its doors are open, leading to 
heaven ! ' Well, he rushes — not into heaven, but 
into the church. I think such converts are always 
in doubt whether they are elected. I doubt about 
them too. 

This is the way of church religion, — belief in 
hell ! Ah, wretched belief ! 

Father, in that final day, your impious son, your 
impious daughter, will be seen on the other side ; 
husband and wife will be separated ; friends torn 
from the bosom of friends, and the eyes of the saved 
will be greeted by the sufferings of the doomed, 
— father, mother, husband, neighbor, friend. Your 



372 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

children, your wife, your neighbor, your friends, 
will be cast off. Standing on some eminence, you 
will see them writhing in flames, whose every pulsa- 
tion is a throb of their hearts, and whose every swell 
is a sigh of their anguish ! You can see them there 
for eternal ages, doomed to suffer unending misery 
while the ages go slowly by. Worlds will dissolve, 
suns and stars melt away like early frost-work, yet 
shall their agony be just begun. And God, who 
created them for his own pleasure, to do as they 
have done, that they may be damned just as they 
are damned, will smile as he gathers the righteous, 
a mere wreck of mankind, — smile at the glorious 
result of his infinite wisdom, love, and justice ! 

Go to the savage cannibal of the South Seas, — 
ask him for his idea of God and hell ; gp to the wild 
Indian, dancing around his tortured captive, — and 
their answer will put to blush the ideal of Chris- 
tianity ! 

274. The Joys of the Redeemed. 

What can be the joy of the redeemed ? It is the 
joy the holy inquisitor feels when he gloats over the 
quivering body of the tortured heretic. Emotions, 
love, affections, the human, lost, — all that we prize 
worth living for is gone. Redeemed or otherwise, 
such existence is a curse. I should prefer condem- 
nation to such redemption. From my very soul I 
loathe and despise the God of infinite hate held up 
for worship by the theological world. He is a hea- 



Heaven and Hell. 373 

then idol, and nothing more. Let me follow those I 
love. Let me share their sufferings, rather than re- 
joice over them. 

A heathen teaches us a lesson of humanity. 
When missionaries from Rome, more than twelve 
centuries ago, penetrated the northern wilds to 
preach to the Saxon savages, it is said that Roth- 
bod, a Frison chief, was converted ; " but, at the 
moment in which he put his foot into the water 
for the ceremony of baptism, he suddenly asked the 
priest whither all his Frison companions-in-arms 
had gone after their death. 

" To hell," replied the priest. 

"Well, then," said Rothbod, drawing back his 
foot from the water, " I had rather go to hell with 
them than to paradise with you and your fellow- 
foreigners. " 

Such would be the response of every human 
being, unless blinded by theological dogmas ; for 
theology is that kind of learning, of which, the more 
one learns, the less one knows, and of which erudi- 
tion is worse than ignorance. 

The priests who perform very long prayers, and 
the churchmen, have a religion which may be 
summed up in praying, quarterage, and remaining 
in doubt whether they are elected; on the "left* 
will be the philosophers and sages, all the brave and 
noble minds of the past ages, and nine-tenths of the 
rest of the world. There the infidel will meet that 
long line of freethinkers, greatest and most noble 
of whom is Thomas Paine, — men who fought 



374 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

bravely for human freedom, and with great-hearted 
benevolence sacrificed their positions and their hap- 
piness, and endured contumely and bigoted hate for 
the sake of principle. 

275. There will be Good Company there. 

Throwing these dogmas aside, losing the incen- 
tives they furnish on the one hand, and the fear of 
punishment on the other, are we in danger of the 
immoralities from which they were invented to 
guard us ? I would present the examples of the 
illustrious men who have cast them aside, and, if 
they prove it, I answer, Yes ; but, if otherwise, No. 

We may lose the inhuman incentives of fear ; but 
we gain that which is of immeasurably more advan- 
tage, — the human elements. 

Guided by them, by our moral instincts, we shall 
rarely stumble, and, walking in the sunlight of right- 
eousness, we shall know " if our faith be abiding, and 
our calling sure." 



XVII. 



THE SPIRIT^ HOME. 



Is there no grand immortal sphere, 

Beyond this realm of broken ties, 
To fill the wants that mock us here, 

And dry the tears from weeping eyes ; 

Where winter fades in endless spring, 

And June stands near with deathless flowers j 

Where we can hear the dear ones sing 
Who loved us in this world of ours ? 

James G. Clarke. 

There is another invisible, eternal existence, superior to this visible one, 
which does not perish when all things perish. — Bhagavat Geeta. 

Go, give to the waters and the plants thy body, which belongs to them ; but 
there is an immortal portion, O Djaatavedas ! transport it to the world 
of the holy. — Rig Veda. 

276. Preparation. 

ON entering the spiritual domain, and in our 
investigation of the spiritual philosophy, we 
must cast off the trammels of the schools, which 
have so long fettered the natural action of our 
minds. The cant of the metaphysician, and the 
egotism of the theologian, are the chaff which has 
for centuries buried the truth from the honest 
thinker. They avail us not. As candid investi- 
gators, nothing but positive testimony will avail ; 



376 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

and, in obtaining that testimony, we must walk out 
into the fields of nature, and question the great 
principles which speak in sighing winds, babbling 
brooklets, in the myriad-tongued forest murmuring 
to the passing zephyr. 

277. Law Rules Supreme. 

When we question Nature, she tells us law reigns 
supreme. Not a thistle-down floats on the breeze, 
not a sand-grain is thrown on the ocean's beach by 
the rolling billows, not a bubble of foam floats on 
the hurrying stream, but its every motion is gov- 
erned by immutable laws. Law bounds the great 
world, and dashes it on in its orbit. It sends the 
rushing comet round the central fire, and floats 
whole solar systems on their courses as a feather is 
upborne by the passing winds. Not an atom finds 
its appropriate place in the living organism but is 
guided by unerring law. 

What more uncertain than the wavy motions of 
the gossamer thread as it dances in the summer 
winds ? Yet every motion is governed by law, — by 
the same power that chains the moon in its orbit, or 
rolls the earth around the sun. 

278. The Same holds good in the Spiritual 

Realm. 

If we think that we are leaving the province of 
order and control of established principles when we 
pass from the material to the so-styled spiritual, we 



The Spirits Home. 2>77 

labor under the greatest possible mistake. As the 
ultimation of the material universe, the spiritual is 
governed by the same established principles, mod- 
ified by superior conditions. Gravity, attraction, 
and repulsion, the properties of atoms, the rela- 
tions which exist between them, all are preserved ; 
and we enter as real and substantial a world as is 
the one we leave. 

279. No Miracles 

Are observed in the phenomena of spiritual life. 
True, we do not understand many of the mani- 
festations we observe, because the substances with 
which we deal are impalpable to our senses, and 
are recognized only by their effects ; but this only 
shows our ignorance, and not the interposition of a 
miraculous power. 

280. An Unknown Universe 

Exists beyond the material creation. It is formed 
from emanations arising from the physical universe, 
and is, a reflection of it. This is the spiritual uni- 
verse. We have been taught by our learned teach- 
ers a system of spiritual philosophy so vague and 
undefined that it has served rather to blind than to 
enlighten us. It has inculcated the wildest errors, 
and by its influence, even now, we are liable to be 
led astray. 

If spirit be identity, if it be organic after its sepa- 
ration from the body, then it must have a home, and 



378 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

that home must be a reality. These are incontro- 
vertible propositions, and are necessarily inferred 
from the fact of spiritual existence. A single prop- 
osition crushes the spiritual fabrication of the theo- 
logian, whose definition of spirit is the best one 
possible of non-entity. According to his system, a 
spirit is a refined shadow of nothing, — a collection 
of thoughts. But thought is an effect \ not a cause ; 
and standing in his position, and expecting thought 
to exist after the decay of the body, is as rational as 
to look for the hum of a dead bee, or the song of a 
bird after it has flown. 

Nothing cannot originate something. If the spirit 
exist, it must be an entity ; and, if such, must be 
composed of matter. It must be organized ; and, 
if organized, it must have a dwelling-place. This 
conclusion brings us back to the first inquiry, — 

281. What and Where is the Spirit-World? 

To understand this subject, we must inquire into 
the secret processes of nature, beneath its external 
manifestations to the senses. In this, as well as 
the manner of spiritual life, and kindred subjects 
connected with spirits, the revelations of the clair- 
voyant and of departed intelligences must be relied 
on for our information. 

282. Their Testimony is Reliable. 

When the fact of spiritual communion and iden- 
tity is proved, then the intelligence they impart is 



The Spirit's Home. 379 

as reliable as the report of a traveler in a distant 
country. The major portion of our knowledge 
depends on such reports ; and, if the tale of travels 
in England or Europe be received as true, why 
not receive the report of a departed spirit, who has 
made himself familiar with the scenes he describes ? 
This subject does not admit of argument. It is 
self-evident, that, if spirits exist, their description of 
their abode is as authentic as is the report of travel- 
ers. 



283. And what do they tell us ? 

That the universe is undergoing a refining process, 
and the spirit-world is formed from the ascending 
sublimated atoms. 

Before entering on the discussion of how this is 
effected, let us inquire philosophically whether this 
refining process is really going on ; whether there 
really is a progressive movement in creation, from 
crude and undeveloped conditions to ethereality and 
perfection. 

The present order of nature cannot have had an 
infinite existence. If we trace backward the geo- 
logical records, through the rocky tablets of earth, 
through fossiliferous, transition, and primitive rocks, 
we arrive at a beginning of the present system. 

The earth has the marks of infancy, and has yet 
attained but its youthful state. In the beginning, 
geology tells us, it was a vast ocean of gaseous 
matter ; then it cooled down to a liquid globe ; then 



380 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

a crust formed over it, and, by slow degrees, it was 
molded into the beautiful creation of the present. 



284. Nature Works in Great Cycles, 

Every returning coil being above the preceding. 
Matter, without a beginning, must have passed 
through an infinite number of changes, of which 
the present order is but a single and incompleted 
coil. 

In the infinite duration of the past, universe after 
universe must have been born, have grown old and 
decayed, and new ones have been breathed forth 
from the chaotic elements of the preceding. Still 
labored the forces of organic nature, and at every 
mighty return matter became more refined, its capa- 
bilities enlarged, and consequently the next system 
became more perfected. This continued until mat- 
ter, by its superior refinement, became capable of 
forming a universe as perfect as the present. 

The object of the mutations of the organic world 
is the individualization of spirit in man ; so the 
ultimation of inorganic mutations is the refining 
of spiritualized matter for the support of that spirit 
when identified. 

These cycles of revolution are like those of the 
Hindoo theo-cosmology, which teaches that every 
three hundred and sixty thousand years all created 
things flow back into the infinite soul of Brahma, 
or God, and from thence are evolved as a new 
creation. But the periods of return are millions of 



The Spirit \s Home. 381 

ages, instead of a few thousand years, and, at every 
return, matter arises above its former level. 

In the individualized spirit, the atoms which com- 
pose its organism are elaborated by and derived 
from the physical body. So are the spiritualized 
atoms, which ascend from animate nature, elabo- 
rated. 

To the perception of the spirit, or of the clairvoy- 
ant, these ascending atoms are as plainly perceptible 
as is the ascent of vapor from water. It exhales 
from all substances, as mist rises from a sheet of 
water. 

The mineral mass, by the processes at work among 
its atoms, and the disintegrating chemical action of 
electricity and magnetism, throws out ethereal parti- 
cles into the great ocean of unindividualized spirit. 

The plant, taking up crude mineral atoms, subjects 
them to the refining process in its interior cells, and 
eliminates the finer particles. 

The animal feeds on the vegetable, and subjects 
it to a refining process, ultimating a proportion of 
its atoms and exhaling them into the atmosphere. 
When the animal dies, the spiritual element, which 
retains not its identity after the dissolution of the 
body, escapes, as a drop of water evaporates, and 
mingles with the great ethereal ocean. 

The spirit-world is derived from these atoms. 
Hence it is born from this earth as the spirit is born 
from the body. It depends on the earth for its 
existence, and is formed through its refining instru- 
mentality. Without the earth there could not have 



382 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

been corresponding spirit-spheres, and there would 
not have been a necessity for them ; so that the 
existence of the spirit-sphere presupposes the ex- 
istence of a central world. 

285. Where do these Particles go ? 

Attenuated as they are, these atoms gravitate, or 
they are impelled by attractions and repulsions. 
They are not attracted to earth more than the 
inflated balloon ; and, like it, they arise from the 
earth's surface until they reach a point where their 
gravity and repulsion are in equilibrium. There they 
rest. But atoms will partake of different degrees of 
refinement, and the most refined will not rest where 
the grosser find an equilibrium. Hence more than 
one zone will be formed. 

286. The Form of these Zones. 

If the earth were at rest, these ascending particles 
would rise in straight lines from the earth's centre, 
and a complete sphere would be formed, entirely 
enveloping the earth. But the earth rotates on its 
axis every twenty-four hours, or a thousand miles 
an hour, a velocity sufficient to throw out the equa- 
tor twenty-six miles further from the centre than is 
the distance of the poles from the same. 

As the understanding of this proposition is 
essential to the proper conception of the subject, 
we will illustrate it by the familiar instance of 
drops of water being thrown from the surface of a 



The Spirt 'fs Home. 383 

grindstone in rapid motion. Two forces produce 
the phenomena. The centrifugal force tends to 
throw the water off in straight lines from the 
surface : the same force tends to throw the world 
off in a straight line from its orbit. The cen- 
tripetal force draws the drops of water to the 
centre of the wheel, and chains the earth to the 
sun. The motion of the earth in its orbit is a mean 
between these two forces. The same principles are 
true in regard to the diurnal motion of the earth on 
it's axis. All its atoms are chained to the centre by 
gravity, but the rapid motion which they are obliged 
to perform ever tends to project them in straight 
lines from the surface into space. This does not 
occur, but their gravity is lessened, more at the 
equator than at the poles, as they are obliged to 
move faster at the former than in the latter position ; 
and hence the poles draw inward, while the equator 
bulges outward. The tendency is to produce a ring, 
if the velocity were sufficiently increased. 

287. Spiritual Atoms, being affected by the 

same Laws, 

Partake of the earth's rotary motion, and revolve 
with it. If the spheres completely surrounded the 
earth, as first supposed, the earth remaining at rest, 
as soon as it began to move, the superior velocity of 
the equatorial regions over the poles would draw 
away the particles from the latter, and concentrate 
them at the equator, producing a zone, the axis of: 



384 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

whose revolution would coincide with the earth's 
axis, or it would revolve parallel with the equator. 

288. The Rings of Saturn 

Furnish a fine illustration of the form and appear- 
ance of the spirit-zones. They are belts or rings 
rotating around that planet, and sustained in their 
position by the equilibrium between the centripetal 
or tangential force and the gravity which draws 
them toward the central body. 

The spirit-spheres are rather zones than spheres. 
They are one hundred and twenty degrees wide ; 
that is, they extend sixty degrees each side of the 
earth's equator. If we take the sixtieth parallel of 
latitude each side of the equator, and imagine it 
projected against the blue dome of the sky, we have 
the boundaries of these zones. 

289. how far are they from the earth's 

Surface ? 

The first zone, or the innermost one, is sixty 
miles from the earth's surface. The next external 
is removed from the first by about the same dis- 
tance. The third is just outside of the moon's 
orbit, or two hundred and sixty-five thousand miles 
from the earth. 

Although atoms may be sufficiently refined when 
they are first ultimated from earth to pass by the 
first and enter the second zone, yet the second 
zone is, speaking in a general sense, the offspring 



The Spirit's Home. 385 

of the first, as the first is the offspring of the 
earth ; and, from the second, the third is elaborated 
by a similar process to that by whicH the earth 
exhales spiritualized matter. From the third sphere 
rise the most sublimated exhalations, which mingle 
with the emanations of the other planets, and form a 
vast zone around the entire solar system, including 
even the unknown planets beyond the vast orbit of 
Neptune. 

Our sun is a star belonging to the milky-way. 
The mild radiance of the galactic zone is produced 
by an immense assemblage of stars, so crowded 
together that their light blends, and appears as a 
solid mass to the eye. With the telescope, how- 
ever, it appears as a dense mass of stars. This 
system of suns, if it could be viewed from a great 
distance, would appear on the sky as an extremely 
flattened sphere, and our sun would be seen as a 
little star placed in the southern extremity of the 
starry mass. 

As the emanations from the refined planetary 
spheres form a sphere around the solar system, so 
the refined emanations from all the solar systems 
form a still more sublimated series of zones around 
the milky-way. The same great principles pervade 
all of these spheres. The impress of the same law 
is witnessed in the magnificent spheres which sur- 
round the almost infinitely extended galaxy, as in 
the primary zones which surround the earth and 
planets. 
25 



386 Arcana of Spiritualism. 



290. There is no Miracle here, 

But the supremacy of the same great principles 
which cause the stone to fall to the ground or the 
sun to shine. 



291. The Thickness of the Spheres Varies, 

The first is nearly thirty, while the second is 
twenty, and the third is but two miles in thickness. 
The first is the oldest by immeasurable time, as it 
was the first to begin to form ; and, until it sup- 
ported organizations, it could exhale but a small 
amount of refined matter to the second, and of 
course the process was delayed still longer in the 
creation of the third. 

How beautifully harmonious nature has framed, 
not only the constitution of physical, but of spiritual 
things ! There is observable the nicest adjustment 
of harmony and adaption. So fast as creations are 
called for, they are supplied. Nature toiled through 
illimitable ages to produce an identified intelligence. 
She looked through all these ages, and with prophet's 
eye saw that she would succeed, and that her suc- 
cess would necessitate a home for that spirit other 
than the gross world it had left. Then she began 
to build its habitation, and that, too, by the same 
process by which she sought to perfect her master- 
piece of creative force, — an identified human spirit. 
Creative energy is at work now as much as when 
earth was evoked from chaos. It toils unceas- 



The Spirit's Home. 387 

ingly ; and, qs the heat and vapor of its workshop, 
the refined atoms constantly rise, floating away to 
their appropriate spheres. 

It will be inferred from this that the spheres are 
gradually increasing, while the earth is slowly di- 
minishing. Yes : this is one of the most beautiful 
truths which we can contemplate. The tall moun- 
tain which proudly rears its granite peak among the 
clouds, bidding defiance to the sleet and storm, on 
whose atlas shoulders the sky lovingly rests, on 
whose brawny back vast forests slumber, from 
whose sides great rivers well ; the earth-engirdling 
ocean, with its countless isles and bordering conti- 
nents ; the moon and planets which light up the 
evening sky, — all are undergoing the refining pro- 
cess, and in future ages will be resolved into spiritual 
elements. 

The mountain shall crumble, the ocean shall be- 
come dry, and the moon and stars fade from the 
canopy of night ; but they will exist, in a more 
active and perfected form, carrying out the grand 
design of creation. 

The surface of these zones is diversified with 
changing scenery. 

292. Matter, when it Aggregates there, is 
prone to assume the forms in which it ex- 
isted here. 

Hence there are all the forms of life there as on 
earth, except those, such as the lowest plants and 



388 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

animals, which cannot exist surrounded by such 
superior conditions. The scenery of mountain and 
plain, river, lake, and ocean, of forest and prairie, 
are daguerreotypes of the same on earth. It is like 
earth with all its imperfections perfected, and its 
beauties multiplied a thousand-fold. 

293. The Spirit holds the same Relation to 
this Spiritual Universe that Man holds to 
Physical Nature. 

The surface of the spheres is solid earth, in which 
trees and flowers take root, and the waters of the 
ocean surge perpetually on the shore. An ethereal 
sky arches overhead, and the stars shine with in- 
creased refulgence. The spirits breathe its spiritual 
atmosphere ; they drink its crystal waters ; they par- 
take of its luscious fruits ; they bedeck themselves 
with its gorgeous flowers. 

It is not a fancy world, nor world of chance or 
miracle ; but a real world, — in fact, more real than 
is earth, as it is its perfection. 

The spirit walks on its surface, it sails on the 
lakes and oceans ; in short, follows whatever pursuit 
or pastime it pleases, and the elements there hold 
the same relations to it that the elements of earth 
held to it while in the physical form. 

I will not enter at present into a minute descrip- 
tion of scenery as it appears to the spirit or the 
clairvoyant. Words are but feeble auxiliaries in the 
delineation of a subject so far removed above mortal 



The Spirit's Home. 389 

comprehension. It is a reflection of the earth, and 
holds a close correspondence to it, but can no more 
be compared with it in beauty than the finest min- 
iature with the coarsest charcoal sketch. 

I pass to the consideration of the next important 
inquiry. 

294. How do Spirits pass from Earth to 

the Spheres ? 

Philosophers teach us that an ether pervades all 
space, on which the pulsations of light and heat are 
thrown by luminous bodies. This ether, they tell 
us, pervades all space and all substances, and is the 
medium for transmission of the influence of the 
imponderable agents. 

By their description of this ether, we can readily 
understand the spiritual ether, which also pervades 
all space. It is not, however, like the former, except 
in its universal diffusion. It is a much more refined 
and active agent, and is a peculiar emanation from 
all globes. 

Ultimated as it is, the organization of the spirit 
is still more refined, and hence it floats as a cork 
immersed in water, or a balloon in the atmosphere, 
having its gravity with respect to the earth entirely 
destroyed. 

The ultimated particles from the earth rise and 
rush out of the vast openings at the poles in a 
spiral direction produced by the rotation of the 
earth. Then they diffuse themselves through the 



390 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

atmosphere of the first zone, each following its own 
peculiar attractions. 

On these rivers the spirit is wafted from the sub- 
lunary scene, and is ushered, in a moment, into the 
spirit-world. 

295. The Philosophy of the Spirit traveling 

with such Rapidity 

Is as simple as is that of the other great principles. 
As its gravitation is destroyed by immersion in an 
ether more dense than itself, it rises, or is repelled 
from all the physical worlds. When it comes to 
earth, the action of the gravitation of the earth is to 
repel it from it, and not to attract. But, by an effort 
of will, the spirit becomes positive to the place where 
it desires to go. Then there arises an immediate 
attraction to that place, and it flies through the thin 
ether. 

296. Can they pass to other Globes ? 

This depends on their degree of refinement. 
While some are very pure and ethereal, others are 
gross and unrefined. The sensualist, the depraved 
debauchee, in many instances are so gross that 
gravity chains them to the earth's surface as it does 
man. They are denser than the spirit ether, and 
hence have weight, and cannot rise from earth. 
Others, who are more spiritual, can only rise to the 
first sphere ; while others, stilly more refined, pass at 
will through the universal ocean of ether, visiting 



The Spirit's Home. 391 

other globes and other solar systems. The degree 
of purity or spirituality determines whether or no 
the spirit shall be chained to earth, or allowed free- 
dom to travel the ocean of space. 

297. Objections may Arise. 

If the spheres spread out above us, why do we not 
see them ? 

Why do we not see spirits with the normal vis- 
ion ? 

The questions are easily answered. It is from the 
relation which they bear to light Air, like almost 
all other gases, is invisible. No one ever saw at- 
mospheric air, yet no one doubts its existence. It 
transmits light without intercepting the rays, and 
hence is invisible ; for we cannot see anything un- 
less it reflects light by which we can see it If so 
material a substance as air is unseen, though it 
surges above our heads in a great ocean forty-five 
miles deep, how can we expect to see the refined 
ether of which these zones are formed ? 

Still further. When we look through a clear 
plate of glass, we cannot see the glass interposed 
between us and the objects beyond. Perfectly clear 
water transmits the rays of light so completely that 
it is invisible unless seen by reflection. 

After such instances, can we ask why the spheres 
are not visible, and why they do not intercept the 
light of the sun and stars ? The objection is fully 
met here on scientific grounds, and does not de- 



39 2 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

pend, for its explanation, on the mere words of the 
angels. 

One question more arises, namely : - — 

298. What is the Relation of Light to the 
Spheres ? Is there Day and Night there 
as here ? 

The sun's light, as is well known to the chemist, 
is composed of an indefinite number of rays min- 
gled together. He divides them with his prism, 
and shows the seven colored rays, the chemical 
rays, the magnetic rays, &c. We find that light, as 
it is emanated from the sun, is composed of differ- 
ent kinds of rays, each adapted for peculiar pur- 
poses. 

Each of the spheres retains the rays useful to it, 
and transmits the more gross rays which are adapted 
to earthly conditions. The spiritual portion of light 
is retained as it passes from the sun to earth, while 
the coarser portion is transmitted. Hence the sun 
and stars as certainly appear from the surface of the 
zones as they appear from the earth, and the supe- 
rior do not intercept the view from the lower spheres, 
because they are much more refined than the latter, 
and these are more ethereal than earth. The rays 
of light designed for the first sphere pass through 
the higher without interruption, for they retain only 
their own element. 

The light of the heavenly bodies is much greater 
when seen from the spheres than when observed 



The Spirit's Home. 393 

from the earth. The splendor of the stars is greatly 
increased, and the radiance of the sun fills the atmo- 
sphere with a flood of silver, gilding the scenery with 
an ethereal, indescribable light. 

If the sun is the source of the light received by the 
spheres, and these revolve around the earth, it fol- 
lows, as a necessary deduction, that there, as on 
earth, day and night must follow each other with the 
unvarying regularity of the rising and setting sun. 
That there should be such alternations of light and 
darkness is a necessity of man's spiritual nature. 
He wearies of the never-changing scene, and the 
activity and repose of nature are more agreeable to 
him than is a monotonous sameness. It is also es- 
sentially the result of the plan of creation ; for nature 
allows of no rest. Worlds and zones must revolve 
around central luminaries ; and, as they bring differ- 
ent portions of the surface beneath the central light, 
day and night — that is, the presence and absence of 
the luminaries — must result. 

Thus have we glanced at some of the prominent 
principles connected with the spirits' home, and 
sought to sustain them by the facts of science. 
They may excite prejudice by their novelty ; they 
may be rejected by credulity ; they may be scorned 
by the pride of external philosophy : yet they de- 
pend not on any of these for support, but on their 
own truthfulness. * 

* Prof. Hare, speaking of the spirit-spheres, says, — 
" From the information conveyed by communications sub- 
mitted in the preceding pages, as well as others, it appears 



XVIII. 

RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF SPIRITUALISM. 

Love for all men, but fear of none. — Luther. 

But though he has been brave in battle, killed wild beasts, and fought with 
all manner of external evils, if he has neglected to combat evil within 
himself, he has reason to fear that Arimanes and his Devs will seize 
him. — Zoroaster. 

299. Spiritualism is not wanting in the Re- 
ligious Element. 

SPIRITUALISM is considered to be wanting in 
a vital system of ethics, to be wanting in vivify- 
ing religious tendencies, and, as a philosophy, to be 
thoroughly infidel. As a divine remarked, " It is 
the teachings of the demon allies of the infidel 
world." 

that there are seven spheres recognized in the spirit-world. 
The terrestrial abode forms the first or rudimental sphere. 
At the distance of about sixty miles from the terrestrial sur- 
face, the spirit-world commences. It consists of six bands or 
zones, designated as spheres, surrounding the earth, so as to 
have one common centre with it and with each other. An 
idea of these rings may be formed from that of the planet 
Saturn, excepting that they are comparatively much nearer to 
their planet, and at right-angles to his equator, instead of 
being, like Saturn's rings, so arranged that their surfaces are 
parallel to the plane in which his equator exists. 

"The interval between the lower boundaries of the first 



Religious Aspect of Spiritualism. 395 

It is true that it discards many things which were 
regarded as divine truths ; but if it is to bring no 
new light into the world, if the old is to remain, 
of what avail is it that the angel host communi- 
cates with earth ? 

The pure precepts of the great thinkers of the 
past will remain forever : they rest on the eternal 
foundation of man's relationship to man, and can- 
not perish. But their interpretations may be false, 
we may misunderstand them, or new light may give 
to them a wholly different meaning. Spiritualism 
may interfere with many darling beliefs of the 
churches, but never with their truths. It presents 
different motives, but the end it wishes man to at- 
tain is the same. 

spiritual sphere and the second is estimated at thirty miles as 
a maximum; but this interval is represented to be less as 
the spheres between which it may exist are more elevated or 
remote from the terrestrial centre. . . . The first spiritual 
sphere, or the second in the whole series, is as large as all 
the other five above it. This is the hell, or Hades, of the 
spirit world, where all sensual, malevolent, selfish beings re- 
side. The next sphere above this, or the third of the whole 
series, is the habitation of all well-meaning persons, however 
bigoted, fanatical, or ignorant. In proportion as spirits im- 
prove in purity, benevolence, and wisdom, they ascend." 

Prof. Hare divided the spheres into six circles each, the 
homes of distinct classes ; but he admits this division to be 
somewhat arbitrary. The value of this communication could 
be better estimated if he had stated how he had received it. 
There is incompleteness and want of coherence in the state- 
ment itself. The inner or second sphere cannot be of larger 
extent than the external ; and, as the second sphere is the 



•m 



396 Arcana of Spiritualism. 



300. Incentive offered by the Church. 

The Church offers two reasons for right-doing : 
fear of punishment, — by far the stronger induce- 
ment, — and hope of reward ; eternal misery on 
one hand, eternal happiness on the other. Hell 
and heaven are foreign elements to be sought or 
avoided. They are not of the soul. 

301. Incentive of Spiritualism. 

It is an easy thing to become a Christian, as that 
name is now employed, — that is, to become a mem- 
ber of a church, to be regular in attendance on Sun- 
home of all spirits after leaving the mortal body, it cannot be 
only that of the bad ; and it would be just as rational to di- 
vide this life, or the first sphere, into six circles, as any of the 
future states. 

It may be truly said that the spirit friends of Prof. Hare 
stated a great and cardinal truth, — that the spirit-spheres 
surround the earth ; but either from want of knowledge, 
or from imperfection of their means of communication, they 
failed to give the details in a perfect manner. However pains- 
taking in his experiments, he seems to have received these 
communications with almost unquestioning credulity, and did 
not subject them to the criticism necessary for the elimina- 
tion of error. Judging from the "internal evidence' 5 of the 
statement, we infer that he was prone to fashion theories and 
"submit" them ready formed to the "spirits," rather than to 
await their spontaneous disclosures. This method is the one 
most liable to error of any that can be pursued. A positive 
element is introduced, disturbing in its influence, and shutting 
out explanation and correction. 



Religious Aspect of Spiritualism. 397 

days, to be regular in paying quarterage or pew 
rent, and to be regular in prayers and confessions 
of short-comings. 



302. It is not an Easy Affair to become a 

Spiritualist. 

You have no powerful body to support you when 
you fail, to conceal your errors, or to praise your 
virtues ; but on your own exertions you must rely, 
and must achieve your own salvation. Churchianity 
is a retreat for mental laziness. There the grand 
problem of salvation is worked out. All that is re- 
quired for the convert is to receive the solution. He 
must be like an infant or an imbecile, with open 
mouth ready to swallow the theological pap. The 
more docile, the more he stultifies his intellect, the 
better member he becomes. 

From this lethargy it is difficult to awake. I 
always feel uneasy when church-members declare 
themselves Spiritualists. The bite of the theologi- 
cal mad dog is rankling in their veins : they are 
ever ready to return. So long have they been led, 
that, when they find themselves cut loose, they are 
like children taken into the park, or young colts 
let out to pasture. The field cannot contain them. 
They run here, and they run there, and all over the 
premises, in no time. But they weary of this when 
they find the old landmarks are washed away, that 
the old compass is useless, and the log-book obso- 
lete, and their own powers their only reliance, — 



398 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

they soon weary, and, oh, how they sigh for the 
flesh-pots of Egypt ! 

How many have we seen of such poor souls, float- 
ing out on the great sea, weary with effort, and 
ready to catch at a straw for support ! How cheery 
the old days of unquestioning belief appeared to 
them ! How they wished they had not begun to 
think! It is not well to make converts of such 
unless they have power sufficient to uphold them. 
You make a poor Spiritualist of a good church- 
member. You baptize him into a sea of trouble, 
only to see him in the end grow weary, and return 
to the fold, when the opiate of formulas drowns his 
tremulous efforts. The church is necessary for such 
until it is outgrown. We have often met men who 
have no business to be outside of its pales. They 
have not come out by legitimate thought : some 
friend has broken a paling, and let them out. To 
such, we say, return, — the sooner, the better. If 
you cannot walk without using a broken pale for a 
crutch, out here on the breezy coast of philosophy, 
you had better return ; and, for fear you will come 
out again, replace the paling carefully after you. 

303. Spiritualism the Essence of Philosophy. 

Religion is often accused of wanting in philoso- 
phy. Spiritualism is the essence of philosophy. It 
asks nothing without giving a reason, teaches noth- 
ing without giving a cause. It causes the individual 
to become just and pure, because no other being in 



Religious Aspect of Spiritualism. 399 

the universe will receive as great a reward for his 
right doing as the individual, and because every 
being in the universe will be better for that right 
doing. It asks us to improve ourselves by aiding 
others, in the same effort and time ; it teaches that 
we aid in molding our own immortal natures. 

304. The Individual cannot control his own 

Organization. 

In this imperfect world, he is born, trailing the 
aggregated sins of his ancestors after him. The 
sins of the fathers are visited on the children. Nor 
do we have more control of the conditions which 
surround us. If the word "religion' means any- 
thing, it means doing right. To do right is to obey 
all the laws of our being. If hungry, it is a religious 
precept to feed the body ; if cold, to protect it ; if 
intellectually starving, to seek for truth. Thus we 
ascend. Religion, beginning with the head, ascends 
to the contemplation of eternal laws. 

305. The Doctrine of Salvation, through the 
Blood of Christ, is a Sham, an Imposition, 
a Libel on Reason and Common Sense. 

We are responsible for the thoughts and actions 
of all. A crime cannot be committed in the wide 
world but each individual feels its effects. We are 
atoms of the social world, and disturbance of one 
disturbs all. A wrong deed, whether individual or 



400 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

national, re-acts on the whole world. In its larger 
sphere of nationality we can better observe its ef- 
fect. We thought, as a nation, we could do wrong 
with impunity : our statesmen told us we could do 
so. But the centuries came round ; and the higher 
law, written in the constitution of things, laughed at 
and scorned by the nation, asserted itself. At once 
we found ourselves face to face with eternal justice. 
The cannon booming from Sumter was its voice. 
The nation found it still had a- heart, — that it could 
be just/ It met the issue, poured out the blood of 
a million sons, and billions of treasure, meeting the 
wrong in a death-grapple, where defeat was annihi- 
lation. 

So far as it has stood firmly on absolute justice, 
has it been successful ; so far as it has compromised, 
it has met defeat. We fear justice is not yet ap- 
peased, or the nation's heart purified. I do not wish 
to become a prophet, nor to excite fear. I only state 
what must come in the course of events. There are 
rivers of blood yet to cross, fiery plains yet to pass, 
before we efface our past wrongs, and plant our- 
selves on absolute truth and justice, the only basis 
of a free and noble people. 

Talk about the laws of men ! They copy those 
of eternal right ; and, if they fail in this, if they are 
worded by selfishness to meet the requirements of 
Mammon, alas for the generation they govern ! So 
is it in all history. So in the biography of every 
man. 



Religious Aspect of Spiritualism. 401 

306. We are not placed here for Self alone. 

Beautiful are our relations to others, — relations 
which are not only for this life, but grow brighter 
in eternity. 

A kind word is never lost. If it bears not fruit in 
this life, it will in the next. A spirit told me an in- 
cident in his own life. When on earth he met a 
newsboy. He was an impudent, impish rogue, on 
whose scarred and besmeared face one could not see 
a line of goodness. Well, the spirit, who was then a 
mortal, gave him a kind word. A new light bright- 
ened that dull countenance ; a new purpose seized 
him. " Come with me/' said the man. He placed 
him at school, where he soon equaled and surpassed 
his fellows. He entered life with high purpose, and 
exerted a wide influence. 

Said the benignant spirit, " I met that boy in the 
spirit-world. His gratitude was unbounded. It was 
the first time we had met since I placed him at 
school, a boy, with his humanity almost blotted and 
trampled out. The happiness I received from this 
little action has brightened the joy of heaven. It is 
by such deeds we create our heaven. ,, 

Oh, let us learn of the angel ! The urchins of our 
streets meet no kindness. They meet scorn, jests, 
coarse rebuffs, turn where they will. They are in 
the rough tide, rushing swiftly to the destruction of 
the little humanity they possess. We stretch not 
out our hands to help. Instead of helping, we accel- 
erate the current, 
26 



402 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

307. What the Church has done. 

The Church has for two thousand years been at 
work. Go down into our back streets and alleys, 
and answer if this is a Christian land ! We have our 
work-houses, orphan asylums, retreats for the inebri- 
ate and insane, our jails and penitentiaries, and our 
refuges for the Magdalenes : we are benevolent to 
the individual in a kind of a way, but we make no 
attempt to control the fountain from which all this 
disease and death flows. The man of business calls 
to his workshop his hands, and pays them more or 
less. What is it to him if they live or starve ? Is 
he not to be in the tread-mill, competitors on every 
side ? and, if he pauses to look after others, will not 
he go under ? If the wheels at the top of society 
grind so fine, those at the bottom grind to powder. 
The poor are crushed out, physically and spiritually. 

308. What Spiritualism can do. 

What we say, we say understandingly. If the 
grand principles of Spiritualism were put in uni- 
versal practice to-day, in three generations there 
would not be necessity for an asylum, a jail, a 
penitentiary, a lawyer, a judge, a reverend, in the 
wide land. Time only would be necessary for hu- 
manity to outgrow its scars and deformities. 

If it is easy to awaken the soul to visions of the 
beautiful and true, it is equally easy to crush out the 
little light it may possess. 



Religious Aspect of Spiritualism. 403 

We scorn the Irishman, who, by oppression and 
poverty, has become an ignoble serf, — the coal-dig- 
ger, whose language has been reduced to a few hun- 
dred words, and those relating only to his immediate 
wants. We scorn the outcast, the unfortunate and 
criminal. Rather should we pity. Let us remember, 
that, if placed in their situation, with their anteced- 
ents, we should do precisely as they do. 

Mocking pharisee, who draw your cloak close 
around you for fear of contact with these, did you 
have a choice of endowment given you ? Were you 
consulted as to the sphere of life into which you 
desired to be born ? Do you suppose the vagabond, 
whom you thank God for not being like unto, wished 
to be born to his estate ? Then take no praise for 
being as you are, nor blame him for not being better 
than he is. 

The missionary may talk religion to starving men ; 
and, when the beggar's children cry for bread, he may 
give them — tracts. Spiritualism has quite another 
office. The poor have we with us always ; and, be- 
cause consumption exceeds production, there is mis- 
ery and crime. It is hideous — this wolf-pang of 
hungry poverty — to see disease, engendered by 
want, snatching one's children in its greedy jaws ; 
to see it obliterate the lines of health from their 
features, and write there the livid lines of death ! 
It is well the law is written in blood, — well that 
constant pressure obliterates the keener senses of 
the soul ; else these chained savages of society would 
lay their firm grasp on the bread of the wealthy. 



404 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

It is not done. But let us not suppose, there- 
from, they have no feeling. A human heart in fus- 
tian beats as ardently as in broadcloth. The mother 
in rags has as deep affection for her child as the 
mother in satin, though sometimes, in its struggle 
through misery, it appears more like animal instinct 
than human affection. 

I know not that the fault is with the individual : 
it is with the nation and the times. We rush reck- 
lessly forward. The struggle for existence is ter- 
rible, and the path of advance is paved with human 
hearts. The under-structure of society can have, at 
most, but little pleasure, and the time for the enjoy- 
ment of even that is denied to them. 

Why wonder at their excesses ? The physical 
frame is prostrated by excessive labor. Stimulants, 
for a time, restore its tone. It is as natural for the 
overtasked to seek them, as, when thirsty, to call 
for water. A passing enjoyment is wrung from the 
soul-blasting intoxication ; but draw the mantle of 
charity over their failings,- — it is all that these poor, 
crushed souls can obtain. 

On the other hand, the man of business, the 
thinker, and the writer ; the men who hold the 
commerce of the globe, and with ship and sail 
weave the web of nationalities close and strong ; 
who represent the brain as the others do the hands 
of society, — by overtasking, fall into the same state. 
Constant strain produces corresponding depression. 
The man leaves his desk weary, drooping, enfeebled. 
Sleep does not refresh hirn a He cannot enjoy any- 



Religious Aspect of Spiritualism. 405 

thing. He only feels at home when following the 
path of business which habit has prescribed. 



309. But what has Spiritualism to do with 

the Poor or the Rich ? 

It has much to do. 

Just ahead, there is equality. The green fields of 
heaven are not owned nor sold by title-deed. There 
are no mortgages there, — no rents ; but as the air 
is free here, so are all things free there. At once 
death shakes from poverty its dead weight, and man 
no longer feels its canker, nor is crushed by what 
poor mortals call the justice of the law. He will not 
be compelled to see his ragged children grow up in 
ignorance, and destined to become serfs to Mam- 
mon. 

How inconsistent we are ! We make laws, and 
rob man of his mother earth, which Nature pro- 
claims belongs to him who will cultivate, and then 
blame him for poverty and crime. It is well we can 
go no further. Title-deeds will not hold the sun- 
light, nor the air, nor the water ; else they would be 
so held, and the unfortunate would then be cen- 
sured for not breathing and seeing. 

310. In Plainest Statement, do we not all 

do the best we know how ? 

Can we not always give reasons for our conduct, 
satisfactory to ourselves ? We censure, because we 



406 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

judge from our own standpoint, wholly ignorant 
of the thoughts and motives which actuate the cen- 
sured. We always yield to the strongest influence, 
right or wrong. 

If a tiger spring on a man, and rend him, who 
blames the tiger ? He is only acting out the re- 
quirements of a tigers nature. When a man, born 
with a tigers organization, and that inflamed by 
years of wrong, acts out his nature, is he more 
to blame ? Is he more blamable than the man, 
born with a benevolent organization, who acts be- 
nevolently ? 

Do not understand me as upholding " whatever is, 
is right." On the contrary, I hold that "whatever 
is, is wrong!' We must all join in righting it. 

311. "Whatever is, must be." 

And there should be no praise, no censure, for its 
being thus. 

This doctrine varnishes no fault. There is only 
one right way, and that, the obedience to law : and, 
if you fail, do not support yourself by saying, " I am 
as I am ; ' for the first step in progress is the recog- 
nition of this very doctrine ; and, the next, endeavor- 
ing to overcome the impediments of your condition. 
Your remaining in the wrong plainly says you are 
ignorant of the right. 

The ideal man of Spiritualism is perfect. Would 
that I could paint to you the beatitudes that cluster 
around such a one, and breathe into you his lofty 
aspirations ! 



Religious Aspect of Spiritualism. 407 

That ideal man loves truth for its own sake, be- 
cause it is truth, — not from any good he expects to 
derive from it; loves justice because it is justice; 
loves right because it is right. 

There are many who profess to love truth, justice, 
right ; but, on analysis, they love only their special 
forms, — not the divine, eternal, and universal. We 
see men, every day, ready to defend what they call 
by these names ; but they so style some special- 
ity, and know little of universal justice, right, and 
truth. 

The love of these, in their universal quality, is the 
perfection of manhood. This love sustains the mar- 
tyr, and makes the burning coals a bed of down, 
compared to their violation. They are the fountains 
from which flow all the nobleness of a true life, and 
they never yield bitter waters. 

When the love of these exists, the individual never 
fails in their requirements ; for, where the universal 
exists, the special will well out, as occasion demands, 
from its exhaustless fountain. 

The effect of these three great principles, the rep- 
resentatives of the Spiritual philosophy of ethics on 
the character of the man, is the development of per- 
fect manhood. 

That is the great end and object of living. If we 
do not advance, we might as well not live. If we 
are not growing in wisdom, and developing angelic 
qualities, our life is a waste, and we should make haste 
to recover the right path. 



408 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

312. If this be the Purpose of Life, we in- 

quire HOW IT MAY BE OBTAINED. 

By discarding those things which are only for 
to-day, and doing those which have an eternal rela- 
tion. 

Every organ has an appropriate function to per- 
form, and the proper action of all is a sacred duty. 
Take our being as a whole, and the natural, legiti- 
mate use of all faculties and powers is equally holy. 
It is perversion that causes disease and suffering; 
and the perversion of the morals is as disastrous as 
that of the passions. To cramp or dwarf one depart- 
ment of our being, and cultivate another to excess, 
is detrimental, even if the overwrought faculty be 
the highest moral feeling. 

313. We say, Do that which has an Eternal 

Relation. 

Happiness, then, is not evanescent, but is an abid- 
ing quality. The business of the world is the con- 
trary. Take, for example, the man devoted to the 
acquisition of wealth. A very narrow portion of his 
mind is cultivated by his pursuits, and the remainder 
is dwarfed. Perhaps, morally, he is idiotic. He may 
be a shrewd dealer in stocks, and thoroughly posted 
in his business ; but, not having cultivated any other 
department of his being, he is dwarfed. At death, 
his brokerage is gone ; and the man stands on the 
other side of the grave a miserable, enfeebled soul. 



Religious Aspect of Spiritualism. 409 

If the angels dealt in stocks, he would feel at home. 
He finds that he has no treasures laid up in heaven, 
and that his life has been wasted in an idle chase for 
brambles, of no consequence to the grand growth of 
eternal life. 

Such a treasure is the proper cultivation of the 
mind. I say proper cultivation, for there is a learn- 
ing worse than ignorance. The bias given by a 
creed, or any cramped religious system, is more 
detrimental to the spirit's growth than absolute de- 
ficiency of all learning. Such systems warp and 
distort the mind. They form a medium through 
which it views humanity ; and that medium, being 
untruthful, conveys nothing but error. 

This culture is founded on the principles of truth, 
justice, and love. These have their existence in the 
constitution of man, as well as in external nature, 
wherein their divine manifestations can be read. 



314. The Great Object of Being is a Manly 

Life. 

We are not dwellers on the shores of time, but of 
eternity. Though we do the best we know how, we 
have capabilities of doing infinitely better. Life is 
a school for discipline. We should co-ordinate and 
harmonize all our faculties, living and acting true to 
our highest .light. 

Not in an organization, a party, do we wish to find 
the excellency of Spiritualism, but in the individual. 
It makes no difference how strong, how excellent, 



410 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

how pure the party is to which he belongs, if he is 
wrong. The sacrifice of the world would be of no 
avail. Sin lies not with the body ; all transgression 
is of the spirit. The higher powers should rise 
above the lower, and, duly co-ordinated, should con- 
trol them. 

315. We make our own Heaven and our own 

Hell, 

And walk an angel or a devil therein, — not in 
free realms of spirit-life, but now and here on 
earth. 

Such I consider to be the religious aspect of Spir- 
itualism. It is the combined moral excellence of the 
world. It is the essence of Christianity ; but, while 
the latter involves itself in creeds and churches, the 
former acknowledges no other creed than the laws 
written in the natural world, no other interpreter 
than reason, no church but mankind. 

While the churches descant on the efficacy of 
prayer, Spiritualism teaches that one good deed is 
worth all the formal prayers since Adam's time. 

He believes in prayer, but in that prayer by which 
the workman molds iron into an engine, and wood 
into steamships, — the prayer of the hand as well as 
of the heart. 

While the church prays God to help the needy 
and suffering, the Spiritualist becomes the messen- 
ger, giving that help. Such is he, — large-hearted, 
open-handed. That is the difference. He has gone 



Religious Aspect of Spiritualism. 411 

past all the churches, and drank at the fountains 
where the apostles drank. All the trappings are 
stripped away, and the pure ethics of the world's 
sages — of Plato, Confucius, Pythagoras, and Christ 
— are the ethics of Spiritualism. 



XIX. 

THE OLD AND THE NEW. 

Christ, very man and very God, has purchased for us an everlasting deliv- 
erance. He who died for us is the eternal God. His passion, therefore, 
is an eternal sacrifice, and has a perpetual efficacy : it satisfies the Di- 
vine Justice forever upon behalf of all who rely upon it with a firm, un- 
shaken faith. — Zwingle. 

Scripture satisfies the soul with holy and wondrous delight : it is a heavenly 
ambrosia. — Melancthon. 

We create our own heaven or hell, and walk an angel or a devil therein. 

Man is his own saviour. 

316. The Radical and Radicalism. 

THERE is a philosophy of history. Every age 
furnishes a prophecy of the ages to follow, 
which, if we fail to read, it is because of our igno- 
rance. The deeds of each century are evolved out 
of those that preceded it. The past contained the 
germs of the present, and the present of the future. 
We call the present the best, rightly perhaps, per- 
haps wrongly ; wrongly to the conservative, in whose 
mind the golden age glimmers in the remote past, 
and to whom the future is a dreadful night. The 
Radical believes the reverse. The sun has yet to 
rise in full splendor on the glories of that age. One 
gazes wistfully backwards ; the other, forwards. 



The Old and the New. 413 

Society began in savage clans, — began in intense 
individualism. From thence onward the process has 
been one of subduing the individual. During the 
middle ages, Church and State combined to stifle 
individual thought, and their success was indicated 
by the ignorance that prevailed, — the brutality 
and merciless cruelty. There has been a great re- 
action against these forces ; and, moving on in a 
circle, we have again reached individualism, but in 
a new form. We began with the individualism of 
the brute : we end with the individualism of the 
intellect. Our circle is a spiral. 

The conservatives say this is not progress. Pro- 
gression with them means forever following the same 
round, just as the squirrel inside its revolving cage 
thinks turning the cage means getting ahead. So 
they, blinded by the fog of creeds, think that move- 
ment in the same orbit forever is most desirable. 

There are those in the world who think otherwise. 

You have noticed a large family attaining matu- 
rity, and following in the exact footsteps of the 
father. Perhaps one, however, tires of this method, 
and seeks out a new path. Fired with youthful zeal, 
he sets up for himself, and discards the trammels of 
habit which confine his brothers. He is the radical 
of the family. Just so do the radicals of society 
arise. They are prodigal sons, but not fed on 
husks. They have their sorrows and their joys. 
They are the pioneers, who clear the pathway across 
wild continents of ignorance, and from mountain 
summits obtain the first glimpses of the beautiful 



4 H Arcana of Spiritualism. 

regions in store for those who follow. To them 
comes the inspiration of great thoughts, floating 
like visions of Eden through the chambers of their 
minds, lighting the future with resplendent beams, 
and sending rosy twilight over the gray bleakness 
of the present. 

Radicalism is the ultima thule of Protestantism. 
It is the consequence of the granted right of private 
opinion. If one man has the right to protest, so has 
another ; and this protestation may go on to the 
complete separation of all individuals, leaving all 
believing and acting differently. 

This result is quite the opposite of that desired 
by a respectable class of thinkers who consider har- 
mony the desired end, — that individuals should all 
think and act alike. On every hand, we hear much 
said about " harmonious development." They would 
have us believe that all disagreement should be 
avoided, and perfection attainable only by means of 
perfect unity. This view is little better than the 
conservative idea of sacrificing man to society, mak- 
ing his personality of no account compared to the 
State. Such will find an example in China of the 
result of their theory. Disagreement being avoided, 
the State interfering whenever conflict occurs, har- 
mony results, but it ends in stagnation. The indi- 
vidual is lost in the routine of senseless forms and 
ceremonies. There is no growth, and Chinese civi- 
lization is effete, not in dying with old age, but be- 
cause it is unable to break through the crust of its^ 
concreted ideas. Conflict, radicalism, tempest, is the 



The Old and the New. 415 

only cure. So in the world everywhere ; thus has it 
been for all time ; and the Protestant of to-day is the 
conservative of to-morrow. 



317. Infidelity. 

An infidel is a disbeliever in the popular theology 
of the day. The Christian is infidel to the creed of the 
Mohammedan, and the latter is an infidel in the esti- 
mation of the Christian. The Brahman is an infidel 
to Christianity, and the Chinese are infidel to Brah- 
manism. To disbelieve in the current theology is 
infidelity, and brands "infidel" on the disbeliever. 
Infidelity, as now used by the church, so far from 
being a term of reproach, is the most honorable title 
that can be bestowed ; for it means a thinker, one 
who can and does think for himself, and act on his 
own responsibility. In all past time, the infidel, he 
who was branded and scourged by the established 
theology, has been the reformer of the world. In 
order to vindicate a new truth, some old and deep- 
rooted errors must be overthrown ; and to those the 
reformer must become infidel, and show how errone- 
ous they are, as well as prove his own truth. 

Jesus Christ was an infidel, as well as his apostles, 
to the Jewish laws and ceremonies, and dearly paid 
the penalty usually attached to this crime. Melanc- 
thon, Luther, and Calvin were infidels to the theology 
of their day, as were all the great reformers down to 
the present. The infidel has good company. Coper- 
nicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, Laplace, and Her- 



41 6 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

schel are with him in science ; and Confucius, Zoro- 
aster, and Christ are with him in religion. He need 
not be ashamed of his followers, but rather be thank- 
ful that he is allowed to enter a court so august, 
where all the great minds that earth can boast are 
arrayed in a galaxy of splendor. 

Some minds progress faster than others, and, grasp- 
ing new ideas, perceive the falseness of the doctrines 
entertained by their fellows, and attempt to make 
them believe like themselves. This brings on their 
devoted heads, from the bigoted opposition, the 
blighting cry of " Infidel ! ' The martyr is always 
an infidel. He cannot be otherwise ; for no one can 
believe the theology of the day if he reasons on its 
teachings, and compares them with the revelations 
of nature. Theologians have always endeavored to 
shut out the light of nature, and suppress the ac- 
tivity of reason : they have thought that both were 
blind leaders, and that infallibility could be found 
only in the Bible and their creeds. 

It is well known to every thinking man that we 
cannot believe without evidence. Believing by faith, 
having faith to believe, and believing to have faith, 
are contradictions in terms, and an impossibility. 
We may be educated into a belief; but, as soon as 
we reason on it, we cannot believe it, unless it be 
rational, and appeals to our understanding. We may 
think we believe, yet we never can believe an unrea- 
sonable doctrine. 

Slowly the minds of the age are admitting that 
nature and reason — which is the philosophical inter- 



The Old and the New. 417 

pretation of nature — are the only reliable standards. 
They must be true. Nature is the same eternal, im- 
mutable handiwork of God. When a revelation is 
given us from God, it will be in accordance with 
nature, clear and unmistakable, and not ambiguous, 
and needing succeeding interpretation. Now when 
a book purports to be from God, infallible in its au- 
thority, and binding on us to believe, declaring that 
we must believe or be damned, it is evident that it 
is imposible to prevent ourselves from reasoning on 
it. If we have the right to reason on it, we have the 
right to reject it if it appears false. God has made 
nothing in vain. Hence, the possession of reason 
presupposes the right to reason : this right proves 
that we also have a right to reject the false, and 
receive the true, — to subject everything to close 
and rigid examination, whatever may be its claims. 

The infidel is one who asserts this privilege. He 
knows, that, if the Bible is of God, it cannot be in- 
jured by the closest scrutiny ; and, if it be untrue, 
of course he does not wish to believe it, and he feels 
it to be a duty, if not an honor, to expose its errors. 
He knows that the truth never suffered by reason 
or comparison with nature ; that only error hides 
itself away from the light, and loves darkness and 
mystery. 

He takes the book, and compares it with the infal- 
lible standard God has given him, — nature. It fails. 
It presents antagonisms, contradictions, and absurdi- 
ties. How can he believe it, crush his reason, shut 
his eyes to the light, and greedily swallow whatever 
27 



4i8 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

is presented therein ? How can he help being an 
unbeliever ? Have faith ! He cannot have faith 
without reasons for faith. He cannot believe with- 
out evidence. His eyes are open, and he will not 
close them. He has not swallowed an opiate, and 
he is wide-awake. To him, the claims of infallibility 
for the book destroys it ; its antagonism with the 
facts of nature destroys it ; and he cannot help dis- 
believing it, strive he ever so hard to force himself 
to its reception. This is the philosophical infidel. 
It is not from a love of skepticism that he is so, but 
from the unimpeded action of his reason. 

318. Protestantism brings from Catholicism 
everything but the pope. 

Its basis is the same, — the Bible. Its depart- 
ure from Catholicism is a departure from reason. 
Granting its data, the logic of Catholicism is un- 
answerable : man being incapable of arriving at di- 
vine truth, an infinite God delivers to him an in- 
finite revelation. Man, as finite, cannot comprehend 
this revelation ; hence the necessity of inspired teach- 
ers or priests to interpret it to him. Protestantism 
places finite man in direct contact with an infinite 
God, — a finite comprehension with an infinite rev- 
elation. In the latter case, what is -the benefit of 
the exercise of reason, when the object is beyond 
the grasp of reason ? Practically, the two systems 
are the same ; and whatever power the Bible exerts 
is, by means of the idea of infallibility, attached to its 



The Old and the New. 419 

utterances. It is claimed that Protestantism is the 
system demanded by the present age. We ask, is 
this a fact ? Not only is it what we demand now, but 
has it elasticity to meet the requirements of the fu- 
ture ? Daring questions to ask of a system founded 
eighteen centuries ago, and claiming for its founder 
not only the Son of God, but the eternatl Father him- 
self. They may be sacrilegious, but they are of vital 
interest. 

319. A Religion of Abnegation. 

To analysis what does this religion yield ? Em- 
phatically it is of denial and abnegation. It has 
been well said that "Thou shalt not" has a great 
preponderance over " Thou shalt " in the Decalogue. 
It is a passive religion. It sets up the preposterous 
claim, that religion, that morals, can be created out- 
side of man, and forced upon him. Here originate 
missionary schemes. Contrary to this, the field of 
the world shows that moral precepts, however calcu- 
lated to impress themselves, have no power unless 
received by the intellect. Unless so received, they 
remain dead beliefs, without any bearing on the 
lives of their receivers. It is safe to say that such 
is the state of ninety-nine Christians in a hundred, 
and that they never gauge their actions by the pre- 
cepts of their religion. It is received that " It is 
easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a 
needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of 
heaven ; ' : that the poor and ill-used of the world are 
blessed and enviable ; that we should love our neigh- 



420 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

bors and enemies as ourselves ; that, if one takes our 
cloak, we should give him our coat ; that we should 
take no thought for the morrow ; that we never 
should resent injuries, and, if struck on one cheek, 
we should turn the other also. When Christians 
say they believe these precepts, we cannot charge 
them with insincerity. They are not hypocrites and 
deceivers. They think they do : but if one should 
practice them ; if he began by selling all he had, 
and giving it to the poor, and some cold day bestow- 
ing his last coat on a beggar, — these same Christians 
would cry, " O fool V or be swift to thrust him into 
a mad-house. As for loving their enemies, it is 
beyond the pale of necessary virtues, unless to burn 
them for not believing like those in power. The 
heathen Romans, at the rise of Christianity, ex- 
claimed with surprise, " See these Christians, how 
they love one another ! " They would not say that 
now. 

320. Religionists not necessarily Insincere. 

Not insincere : they received certain moral max- 
ims supposed by them to have descended from infal- 
lible wisdom, wholly foreign to their intellect, which 
is pre-occupied by a set of everyday, practical judg- 
ments. It is easy to foreknow which must go to 
the wall. The Christian code becomes from this 
cause only serviceable to illustrate the beauties of 
Christianity, not the lives of its professed believ- 
ers. 



The Old and the New. 421 



321. Is the Present Form of Religion de- 
manded by the Age ? 

We question not the origin of Christianity. It is 
an existing fact. We ask, Is it the religion demanded 
by the present age ? and from it can a religion ade- 
quate to the wants of all future time be evolved ? In 
other words, will it continue a foreign element to be 
foisted upon its recipient, or has it the vitality of 
growth ? Apparently it progresses. Luther and Cal- 
vin and Wesley each have done somewhat to improve 
the old ; but, in essence, it is the same. Man grows 
intellectually, pushing the domain of thought wider 
and wider ; yet he is content with his father's reli- 
gious formula ! 

322. Christian and Infidel. 

Perhaps we may be severe, if, to the question, 
" What constitutes a religious man ? ' we answer, 
change of heart, baptism, — either by plunging, 
sprinkling, or pouring, — joining a church, regular 
attendance at meetings, and regular prayers. If a 
man do all this, is he not accounted as a Christian, 
regardless of any moral delinquencies inside of elas- 
tic laws ? And if he do not do these, but is him- 
self absolutely morally perfect, is he anything else 
than a loathed infidel ? Infidel ! Proud name of 
honor, under which are ranked all the mighty intel- 
lects of the ages ! He is the thinker, who dares 
grandly to stand alone in his belief, and to endure 



422 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

the curses of vile-mouthed bigotry and religious 
hate. This "change of heart" leads to the strangest 
manifestations of intellectual obliquity. What does 
it mean ? Simply that the individual will forsake 
his evil ways, and strive to do better. It is the 
work of a moment. The hardened sinner, with 
conscience calloused to every emotion of justice 
and right, can at once become a beautiful Chris- 
tian ! This is Catholicism. The murderer kisses 
the crucifix, and dies. Paradise awaits him. Had 
he not kissed the crucifix, hell would have been his 
everlasting doom. 

Does such a religion satisfy ? Do we not demand 
a religion of growth, whereby we may each day feel 
that we are more manly and nearer to heaven ? 
What is the incentive for well-doing, if coming at 
the eleventh hour is as well as coming at the first ? 
Rather is it not a premium on guilt thus to be easily 
pardoned ? 

323. Can Churchianity Live ? 

It has been said, that if the church so willed, by 
adopting Spiritualism as its own, it might bring a 
new and vivifying element to its aid, and thereby 
prolong its existence. It could not do this even if it 
desired so to do. It cannot let go its concreted dog- 
mas for the individualism of the new philosophy. It 
cannot admit free discussion. Its dogmas must be 
assented to whether they are understood or not. In 
this manner, even the truths of the church become 
superstitions and prejudices. Its dogmas are dead 



*m- 



The Old and the New. 423 

rituals, and, so far from producing activity of thought, 
they produce moral idiocy, an unresisting passiveness 
to their voice. Sects in their infancy, when com- 
pelled to battle against persecution and antagonistic 
influences by the free discussion of their beliefs, are 
forced to gain an honest acquaintance with the be- 
liefs of their opponents, and to have a living interest 
in their dogmas. When they become established, and 
a new generation inherit their beliefs, these dogmas 
form no part in the lives of their believers. There 
is no life except at distant revivals, when the inani- 
mate corpse is galvanized into contortions resem- 
bling the movements of a living being. 

Churchianity cannot change without breaking the 
crusts of its petrified beliefs to atoms, and emerging 
as something entirely new. It has come to the end 
of its course. It plants itself directly in the path of 
human advancement, and, so far from hoping to ex- 
tend its dominions, it must be content to hold its 
own. 

What are its missionaries doing ? Nothing. They 
honestly complain of want of interest in the Hin- 
doo, the Chinaman, the South-Sea-Islander, the red 
Indian. They give us no assurance of the Chris- 
tianization of a single savage. They claim church- 
izing a few, — that is, persuading them to conform 
to their ritual, which is being baptized, or sprinkled, 
and attending church. But, if the missionaries were 
recalled to-day, in fifty years they would be forgotten, 
and their labors vanished. Perhaps some cannibal, 
while feasting on his slain enemy, might relate, as a 



424 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

tradition, that white men once came and taught how 
they had once crucified God, and thereby saved 
themselves and as many cannibals as might choose 
to believe the story. There their labors would end. 



324. Churchianity Bed-ridden. 

Much has recently been said about a woman who 
has been bed-ridden for thirty-six years, has had all 
the contagious diseases of her time, and yet lives, 
the last of her race, having survived all who cared for 
her. Yet few have seen the striking resemblance this 
bed-ridden matron furnishes to the church, — a strik- 
ing resemblance, only the latter has been bed-ridden 
for immemorial time, and, still worse, is unconscious 
of the fact. With a weak spine and a constitutional 
"general debility," she insists that her wrinkled 
face blooms with immortal youth, and with a cracked 
voice she drones songs set to heavenly harmony. She 
declares she knows more than her generation, and 
would tie all her grandchildren to her apron-string. 
Too weak to rise herself, she insists on leading the 
world. Then she has taken so much medicine in 
her day that she has become a doctor. For moral 
ailments there is no end to her herbs and bitters. 
She is a believer in blood-letting and the cautery. 
Having had every disease affecting humanity, she 
understands heroic remedies. From measles to 
small-pox, from whooping-cough to cholera, she is 
ready with prescriptions. She has a special class 
of moral pill-venders, who deal out remedies to sin- 



The Old and the New. 425 

sick souls from musty saddle-bags coming all the way 
down the ages from Moses. Ah me ! dear old lady, 
you have been beautiful in your day ; but you are 
bed-ridden now, and you do not know it. The world 
has been carrying you on its journey and you did 
not know it. The people thought you were an ark 
of the covenant, to be carried on poles, and kept in 
the van of progress. They have found you to be only 
human, with nought but conceit left of your charms ; 
with only arrogance and imbecility. Even in your 
prime you will remember that you thought the Devil 
rode on a comet, and put your faith in aristocracy, 
and placed your signet on slavery. The blood of 
one hundred million martyrs, torn by irons and 
burnt with flames, is clotted on your mantle. Those 
palsied hands of yours have kept a tight clutch 
at the throat of mankind. Now that the sun of 
truth has arisen, and your aged eyes are blinded, 
do not insist that you can see better than any one 
else ; but keep to your bed, and the world will bear 
your moans and mutterings from sheer pity of 
your weakness. 

325. Christianity is Dying. 

It has been an experiment serving an important 
good. It has fulfilled its mission. It has ceased to 
extend its dominion. As each year passes, it counts 
proportionally less numbers. Let us not, however, 
reject it as a whole. Rather carefully garner what- 
ever truth it may contain, to employ in the new edi- 



426 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

fice which is being built. That edifice is the sum 
total of humanity, — it is Spiritualism. 



326. What is Spiritualism ? 

This religion is a philosophy : this philosophy is a 
religion. It takes man by the hand, and, instead of 
telling him that he is a sinful worm of the dust, cor- 
rupt from the crown of the head to the sole of his 
foot, it assures him that he is a nobleman of nature, 
heir to the Godhead, owning all things, for whom all 
things exist, and is capable of understanding all. 
He is not for to-day ; not acting for time, but for 
eternity ; not a mushroom of a night, but a compan- 
ion of everlasting worlds. Ay, more : he will bloom 
in immortal youth when these worlds fade, and the 
stars of heaven are dissolved. What he writes on 
his book of life is no writing on sand : it is indel- 
ible. 

What a position, then, is occupied by man ! On 
one hand are the lower forms of nature, — the brutes 
of the field ; on the other, the archangels of light, 
towards whom he is hastening, one of whom he will 
become after death shall have cast from his spirit 
its earthly garments. 

Spiritualism is not a religion descending from a 
foreign source, to be borne as a cross : it is an out- 
growth of human nature, and the complete expres- 
sion of its highest ideal. Have you a truth ? — it 
seizes it. Has the negro of Africa a truth ? Spirit- 
ualism asks not its origin, but makes it its own. 



The Old and the New. 427 

You may take the sacred books of all nations, — for 
all nations have their sacred books, — the Shaster 
of the Hindoo, the Zendavesta of the fire-worshiping 
Persian, the Koran of the Mohammedan, the legends 
of the Talmud, and on them place our own Testa- 
ments, the Old and the New : you have brought to- 
gether in one mass the spiritual history, ideas, emo- 
tions, and superstitions of the early ages of man ; 
but you have not Spiritualism, — you have only a 
part of it. You may take the sciences, — the terres- 
trial, intimately connected with our telluric domain, 
teaching the construction and organization of our 
globe, and the cosmical, treating of the infinite no- 
menclature of the stars : you have not Spiritual- 
ism, — you have but a part of it. 

327. Spiritualism comprehends Man and the 
Universe, all their varied Relations, Phys- 
ical, Intellectual, Moral, and Spiritual. 

It is the science and philosophy underlying all oth- 
ers. It reaches to the beginning of the earth, when 
the first living form was created ; for even then man 
the immortal was foreseen, and the forces of nature 
worked only in one direction, — that of his evolution. 
It reaches into the illimitable future, borne onward 
by man's immortality. 

Would you narrow its domain to the tipping of 
tables, a few raps, the trance of mediums ? You 
might as well represent the vast Atlantic by a drop 
of water, the glorious sun by a spark of fire, as to 



428 Arcana of Spiritualism 

represent Spiritualism by these phenomena. Yet 
these are not to be spoken of lightly. They are 
the tests of spirit identity, of which the world has 
so long stood in need ; accidents of the mighty 
gulf-stream of Spiritualism sweeping past the prom- 
ontories of the ages, an accumulating flood of ideas 
and principles. 

328. It is emphatically an American Religion. 

It was born on American soil, and has all the 
tendencies of the American mind. The other great 
religions, the Jewish and Mohammedan, are of Se- 
mitic origin ; and it has been argued that the 
Semitic race was ordained for the express purpose 
of giving true religious systems to the world. Their 
systems, however grand, partaking of the visions of 
the Orient, are foreign to us. The new is internal 
in its growth, practical, and has the coolness and 
calmness of the West. 

The Semitic race, the harsh Jew, the Arab, dic- 
tating morals to us ! We have taught the world a 
lesson in government : it is ours to send back to 
Palestine a new and superior religion. Is it a graft 
on Christianity, as Christianity was on Judaism ? 
So far as the new always must be on the old, and 
no more. It is not a "revival" of religious ideas. 
There has been cant enough, quite, about morals : 
what is wanted is knowledge. Give man that, and 
his morals will be right. His demand is not for 
a revelation embodied in a book, to be expounded 



The Old and the New. 429 

by a hierarchy allied with mystery, with partiality 
for a privileged few ; but a system meeting the 
wants of the people, entering directly into their 
social, intellectual, moral, and political lives ; which 
is not afraid of the soil of labor ; not offended with 
the jar of commerce, nor abashed at high places. 

329. It is a Perfectly Democratic Religion, 

Presenting a just view of man's duty, destiny, and 
immortal relations ; having its proof drawn from 
the physical world, and responded to by the intui- 
tions of the soul. Can history yield one page 
wherein the divinity of man is advocated, and the 
right of each to perfect that divinity until it be- 
comes a law unto itself? Spiritualists are the only 
people who have this fire on their altars ; who by 
religion are democratic. Spiritualism is purely so. 
See how it arose, and how it has advanced. From 
a simple rap in an old house, in an obscure hamlet, 
it has steadily marched onward for the last score of 
years. It never has had a leader ; yet its aim and 
its doctrines are remarkably consistent. The refined 
and educated medium, enjoying the advantages of 
the city, and the boy-medium of the backwoods, 
receive communications enunciating the same great 
truths, and embodying the same philosophy. All 
over the land such communications are received, in 
substance identical. There is harmony amidst di- 
versity ; for, however much communications may 
differ, they do so no more than individual ideas 



430 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

differ, and they substantiate the individuality of the 
intelligence purporting to communicate. In the 
fundamental elements of their teachings there is 
perfect accord. It is a singularity of the Spiritual 
movement, that it has spread with a rapidity unpar- 
alleled in the history of any other innovation, while 
it has not received the aid of any leader. 

330. Leaderless. 

No one stands at the head of its believers to 
direct their movements, or to extend, for personal ag- 
grandizement, its philosophy. Its teachings, on the 
contrary, denounce all leadership, all individual wor- 
ship, making every believer to rely solely on himself, 
and seek his salvation through and by his own ex- 
ertions. There are those who, by a superior mental 
and spiritual endowment, write and speak more than 
do others ; but their words are severely questioned, 
and, if they bear not the test of criticism, they are 
thrown aside. It speaks so strongly of individual 
responsibility, that the watchword of the true Spir- 
itualist is, " I am a man, and you are another." It 
has taught equality until leadership is dishonored ; 
and he who would undertake it would immediately 
be cast down. 

It seems to be a great universal movement dif- 
fused throughout all ranks and classes of society, 
and from myriad sources the little streams flow into 
its vast channel of reform. Other movements have 
had great and talented men to present and vindicate 



The Old and the New. 431 

their claims to the world ; they have had leaders 
who were considered infallible : but Spiritualism 
sprang into being, and no one can determine when 
or how or by whom ; and, in scarcely a score of 
years after the first rap was heard, its speakers are 
declaiming in every city, and its scores of period- 
icals are scattered broadcast over the land, while its 
advocates are in number more than those of any 
sectarian organization in the Union. Is not this an 
unaccountable fact, unless the myriad spirits of the 
departed, standing behind the scenes of their invisi- 
bility, push on the work ? 

I say leaderless. The first media are heard of 
no more. They were wonderful rapping media ; 
and, after serving their time, their oracle departed. 
A short time since, one of our prominent speakers 
wailed like Jeremiah over the departure of former 
workers in the field. He did not understand that 
men, like seasons, have their time, and afterwards 
wither away. The spring gives us blossoms ; the 
summer, fruit : each is good for its time. 

The individual is his own priest If he has sins, 
he must confess them to himself. If Christ did not 
die for him, God did not make Satan to torment 
him. What he loses there, he gains here. If he 
has sinned, he must work out his own salvation. 
This doctrine is wonderfully egotistical, and brings 
with it the burdens of isolation. Out of such mate- 
rial are the spiritual ranks filled. It necessitates 
thought and constant warfare. It is not an easy 
doctrine. Do you wonder, then, that sometimes 



432 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

recruits go over to the other side ? They are tired 
of the conflict. There is no certainty. The old, 
loved, and reverenced may any day be overthrown, 
and wholly unexpected results obtained. They go 
over where there is certainty and rest. Infallibility 
of a creed is an easy doctrine. To all questions an 
answer is ready, — " God willed it." Nothing unex- 
plained ; everything set at rest by the mystery of 
godliness. 

Shall we think it desirable that Spiritualists all 
have one cut of garments ? The Catholic said that 
Catholics should have that a thousand years ago 
The priests made a suit of baby-clothes, and the laity 
have worn it ever since. They tied leading-strings 
to these children, and have never untied them. 
That we consider folly. The difference between it 
and fashioning garments for the present, however, is 
only a difference of time, not of character. Baby- 
clothed Catholic, or frock-coated Spiritualist, — in 
principle, the fitting of garments is the same. It is 
fashioning all men's garments after one pattern, not 
the pattern, that is disclaimed. 

A creed advocating vicarious atonement, or dis- 
carding the same, is equally acceptable. It is not 
what the creed contains, it is the creed itself, which 
we repudiate. To subscribe to a creed acknowedges 
the supremacy of its doctrine over the individual. v 
Its boundaries are those set by its makers, and 
yielding to it is hedging one's self by those bound- 
aries. , 






The Old and the New. 433 

331. Its Persistency and Extension. 

Christ was born in a manger : how many centu- 
ries elapsed before a single million believers bowed 
at his shrine ? Mohammed arose out of the royal 
family of Arabia, and propagated his revelations by 
the sword ; yet how many years before he counted 
his followers by millions ? 

The press has used its mighty energies to put 
down the young giant : the enginery of the church, 
and all the skillful appliances of public opinion, have 
been brought to bear, but in vain. Rapidly it springs 
into strength, and, proving the old fable of Atlas 
possible, bears the world on its broad shoulders. 

The mortal world may be divided, but the nobility 
of intellect of the spirit-world is one. From it flows 
the power reposing beneath all manifestations wher- 
ever displayed, always the same, varied only by cir- 
cumstances. The plan is matured in the spirit- world, 
and from thence measured out to man as he needs. 
We are engaged in a movement which is ultimately 
to overturn the fabric of the world's present moral, 
social, and intellectual philosophies, and its most dar- 
ling theologies ; a movement wide and deep as infini- 
tude. Yet in this desperate conflict we acknowledge 
no leadership except that of the spheres. 

The most humble medium, or obscure circle, is per- 
forming a work perhaps greater than that of the most 
able lecturer on the rostrum. This we assuredly 
know, — whatever each does, it will harmonize with 

the work of others. We may walk blindly, but 
28 



434 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

there are eyes which see for us : we cannot go 
astray. Thus is every individual trained to be a 
leader of himself, — the ultimate of democracy, a 
genuine American idea. To this, many millions of 
Americans assent, and their ranks are rapidly in- 
creasing. It encroaches on the desk of the preacher, 
and enters the halls of legislation. 

While we ask, " Can ideas so intensely radical and 
revolutionary flourish on any other soil ? " they pass 
swiftly the barrier of ocean, and re-appear under the 
thrones of despots. No police can prevent their 
utterance in France, they startle the critical sages 
of Germany, and are received by the autocrat of 
Russia. The revolution they must work in Europe 
will be great. They will go forward silently at first, 
but the red hand of war cannot long be stayed. 
The form y the idea around which the masses will 
rally, the future will determine. 

No barrier can obstruct these ideas ; for they be- 
long to human nature, and are forced onward by 
omnipotent spirit-power. They cannot become dead 
beliefs, for they are of the practical maxims of life. 
They can be understood by a Carrib or Esquimaux : 
they supply intellectual food for the profoundest 
sage. They yield to each just the mental suste- 
nance his capacities require. 

332. It has Revealed no New Moral Truth. 

The opponents of Spiritualism loudly exclaim, 
" Has it presented a single new moral truth ? Show 



The Old and the New. 435 

it: show what it has accomplished." We do not 
claim that it has. It would be impossible for it to 
do so. Christianity, the vaunted engine of civiliza- 
tion, uttered no principle which was not known 
immemorially before its advent. A new system is 
not what we demand. We are systematized to death 
already. We want to be rid of what we have. To 
patch up the ruins of theocratic religion is not the 
mission of Spiritualism. It comes as the great light 
of our century, because a sufficient number of ad- 
vanced minds are educated up to its plane, and are 
disenthralled from reverence for any system. They 
receive it because it is not a system ; because it is 
poured out copiously and freely as the sunlight, to 
be received or rejected, as pleases the hearer. 

Would you harness this young giant in theologi- 
cal traces, and compel it to drag the dead systems 
of the past after it ? Then would you defeat its 
purpose, and set back the hands on the dial of 
human progress many a weary hour. Spiritualism 
is the philosopher's highest conception of his rela- 
tions to the spiritual universe, his fellow-men, and 
spirits ; the living thought of the age, ultimating 
not in the perfection of religion, but in intellectual 
superiority, which goes onward and rounds the char- 
acter in moral completeness. 

Man needs not an external revelation, but an in- 
ternal illumination, whereby he can understand the 
relations he sustains to himself, his brother-men, 
and the physical world. ) Such an illumination is 
bestowed on, though not perceived by, all. The 



436 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

myriad hosts of the angel world are around us. 
They mingle in the affairs of men. Their atmos- 
phere is an exhaustless fount from which we draw 
our thoughts. 

Not to the skin-clad prophets and seers of old, 
fierce wanderers of the desert, are we to look for 
truth. They may instruct us, but they are not au- 
thority. They placed themselves outside of human- 
ity. They were warped and dwarfed by seclusion, 
and narrow indeed were their views of human needs. 
Not so to-day. A fountain of exhaustless flow is 
presented to every one, intoxicating as Castalian 
waters, as life-giving as the fabled springs of per- 
petual youth ; and every one can become inspired 
with divine life, and be a lord and prophet unto him- 
self. This is the work of Spiritualism ; and the 
world's cherished creeds are rapidly falling from 
their bases of sand, undermined by the resistless 
force of its tide. 

333. The Spiritualist. 

Spiritualist ! a believer in the Divine incar- 
nated in the human spirit ; in the glorious intercom- 
munion of the spheres, from the most insignificant 
to the great Father of all ! Proud name of honor ! 
more glorious than king, emperor, or czar ! Why 
do we hear it hissed and employed as a name of 
reproach by the churches, which profess to believe 
in spiritual existence ? There can be but two par- 
ties, — the Materialists and the Spiritualists. They 



The Old and the New. 437 

must be, then, Materialists. They are welcome to 
the honorable name which, from the purely sensuous 
plane that they occupy, they so well deserve. We 
receive the name of Spiritualist with joy. We do 
not wish to tone it down with an adjective. We are 
not Progressive nor Liberal nor Christian Spiritual- 
ists, but Spiritualists, — by that word signifying 
that we are liberal, progressive, and Christian. Let 
us take this firm and decided stand, never ignoring 
our name, nor striving to pass for anything but what 
we are. We should be proud of our name, so broad 
and catholic, and write our professions in dignified 
lives. When we compel respect by making the 
churches fear us, we shall gain it, but not before. 

334. Pleasures of a Belief in Spiritualism. 

With what pleasure we contemplate the world of 
spirits that surrounds us ! There are congregated 
the wise men, the sages, the prophets, and the phi- 
losophers of the ages gone. They have all passed 
up the glittering pathway to the immortal land. 
We are travelers up the same way, and they are our 
instructors and guides. True, the veil of invisibility 
divides the world of spirits from the world of men ; 
but otherwise there is little distinction. Do you 
think Clay and Webster feel less interest in the 
republic than when they made the nation tremble 
with their eloquence ? They are more cosmopol- 
itan, — feel more universal love for the race, not 
less for their own nation. 



438 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

Intricate and beautiful are our relations to the 
angels of the spirit- world. They are our friends, 
our relatives, the good and great gone before us ; 
superior in knowledge and experience, with love and 
friendship increased in the measure of their greater 
capacity. 

Ah ! you who profess to believe that the spirit at 
death is removed to a far-off country, — that it has 
no communion with earth, — you should behold the 
groups of those spirits as they bend over their 
earthly friends, and the intense interest they mani- 
fest in their welfare. 

We have all a greater interest in the hereafter 
than in the present : our deepest hopes lie there, 
and we listen with rapture to the voices from the 
great beyond. 

My gray -haired friend, years ago you were called 
to lay in the cold and narrow grave the loved com- 
panion who made life a constant June day of joy. 
You wept then ; and now, as I lift the misty curtain 
of the past, you weep. The heart grows sad as I 
tread the halls of sacred memories. The years have 
come with iron feet ; but they never can obliterate 
the memory of the departed, which beneath the 
searching frosts, like the mountain evergreen, grows 
fresher. Ah ! you consigned the body back to the 
mother-earth : the spirit, fledged in immortal life, 
rested over you unseen, perhaps unfelt. Has that 
spirit departed ? Are you left lonely, forsaken, a 
weary pilgrim without hope ? Let me raise the veil, 
and show you how intimately the world of spirits 



The Old and the New. 439 

blends with the world of men. Could I open your 
spiritual perception, could I quicken your sight, I 
could show you that loved one, the same as when 
you first knew her in youth and beauty, a guardian 
angel by your side. You are susceptible to her 
holy influence, and have recognized many times in 
the past a gentle voice saving you from paths of dis- 
appointment. 

Mother, you have wept for a darling child, a young 
bud you had watched with tenderest care, and saw 
him, with the joy a mother only can feel, bursting 
into bloom. Just when you thought your fruition 
complete, when life became most involved in the 
loved one, a chilling breath snatched it from you. 

A little grassy hillock in the churchyard, a little 
white slab with a name ! Is that all ? 

Nay, the body resting there is not your child, but 
his worn garment. Your child basks in the sun- 
shine of heaven. It was a cruel stroke which tore 
him from your bosom, and your very heart-strings 
broke with the blow. You are sad now, as you look 
though the long vista of events, and a tear wells 
from your mother-heart. Is your child lost ? Does 
he sleep with the body ? Has he gone far away, 
where not until death can you behold him ? Nay, 
he is here, in radiant beauty, with an affection for 
you heightened by the harmony of his angel-life. 

Many of you — alas ! how many ! — sent your loved 
ones forth to red-handed battle. One died in the 
fierce struggle of Antietam, pierced by sharp bayo- 
nets ; another was torn to fragments by a Parrott 



440 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

shell, and scattered like chaff to the winds ; another 
went down in a fierce cavalry charge, his dear form 
battered by the iron heels of a thousand horses as 
they swept like a whirlwind over the plain ; another 
lay wounded amid the dead, and his precious life 
went out beneath the crushing wheels of ponderous 
artillery ; another died a thousand deaths in the 
prison of horrors, the name of which is too loath- 
some to utter. 

Mother, the vacant chair at your hearth is a source 
of unending affliction. Weeping wife, when your 
infant asks for its father, you will say, " He went 
forth to the strife, and was drawn into the fierce 
whirlpool of death : all that he has left us is his 
proud name and immeasurable sorrow." 

Patriotism supports you not. Your country's gain 
is your countless loss. Brothers, fathers, sons, and 
friends, who went forth with high hopes and lofty 
ambition, are now beyond the veil of darkness, and 
on earth write their names no more. The poor 
privilege of gazing on their inanimate clay was de- 
nied you ; and you think of them as bleaching in a 
Southern jungle, or with rude hands concealed in a 
common grave, where the wreck of valor was indis- 
criminately plunged. 

Is this the reward for your sacrifice, bitter anguish, 
and tears ? Ask the question of Spiritualism, and 
its answer is a balm more precious than Gilead's. 
Like the sound of the waterfall to the parched trav- 
eler in the desert come the silvery voices of departed 
friends, softening and subduing the asperities of life, 



The Old and the New. 441 

cheering us onward to better aims and loftier en- 
deavors. They call, sweetly and musically call, " O 
man, brother, sister ! come up hither : partake of 
these fountains, and thirst no more. ,, 

You have heard of the happy dying. How beau- 
tifully shone the light of heaven over their reposing 
features ! and even after the dissolution a smile like 
the radiance of sunset played upon their calm faces. 
Ah ! death is the key whereby the spiritual percep- 
tions are unlocked ; and, long before its final stroke, 
it opens man's vision to the future, and he sees the 
bright springs and clear waters and green fields and 
radiant spirits immortal. 

From this standpoint we can take a broad survey 
of our relations to the future. We are not creatures 
of a moment : our existence is not like that of a 
cloud sweeping the sky, to be dissolved into noth- 
ing ; but ours is a companionship of worlds and 
stars, — ay, more enduring than are they. Friends, 
relatives, neighbors, have preceded you, whom you 
will greet in the hereafter. Sages, philosophers, the 
great and good of the ages past, await you there, 
where you shall mature in the light of angelic wis- 
dom. 

We have many lessons to learn from this contem- 
plation. By it we comprehend our duty to lower, 
and our relation to higher, orders of intelligences. 
The brutes of the field (our ignoble brethren), all 
the forms of life beneath us, require our kindness, 
love, and sympathy : the angels of light, our elder 
brothers, call forth our emulation, reverence, love, 
and wisdom. 



44 2 Arcana of Spiritualism. 



335. The Coming Contest. 

Spiritualists cannot be held by organizations, ex- 
cept such as draw them together by the ties of uni- 
versal brotherhood. Its purpose is to disintegrate 
and to individualize. Organization has been at- 
tempted, but with disastrous results. It is willed 
by the vast motive power of this measure that hero- 
worship shall form no part of its gospel. Truth 
alone shall be praised. You might as well take 
the fragmentary granite boulders of the field, and 
endeavor to mold them into one, as to unite so 
many Spiritualists, and form them into an organ- 
ization, acknowledging a creed or a leader. All the 
creeds in the world cannot hold them. There are 
no holy books for them, no holy days. If you ap- 
peal to their superstition, you appeal in vain. 

Spiritualism, embodying the glorious ideal of the 
freedom of body and mind, absorbs all that elevates 
and ennobles our conceptions of this life and the 
life hereafter, of nature, and of human relations. 
It is a gigantic system of eclecticism. It seizes the 
good everywhere. Like the bee, drinking nectar 
from the poisonous nightshade as well as from the 
fragrant rose, it absorbs the truths of Catholicism, 
of Mohammedanism, of Buddhism, of Philosophy. 
It is not a religion ; it is not a philosophy : it is a 
perfect union of the two with science. 

Witness its results in the world. All reforms are 
marshaled under its banner. The temperance move- 



The Old and the New. 443 

ment, woman's rights, land reform, magnetism, phre- 
nology, all the new and unprotected issues which 
look to the amelioration of human burdens, whether 
physical or mental, have become parts of its gigan- 
tic scheme. Their only advocates are the spiritual 
press. A conservative Spiritualist is a rare object, 
and either becomes a reformer or goes over to the 
party to which he of right belongs. 

You have heard of Spiritualists becoming Catho- 
lics. It is a very wonderful change, but not so 
wonderful when understood. As Spiritualists, they 
learn that there are but two issues, — going ahead, 
and going back. They are not capable of going 
ahead, and hence at once take the fearful lean into 
the lap of the mother church. Be not alarmed if 
men forsake the light, and return to the old. Lead- 
ers may desert the standard of the new to rest at 
ease in the lap of the mother church, or to enjoy the 
offices she gives. These are accidents to be ex- 
pected : they have no universal significancy, except 
as they show the necessity of standing with the one 
or the other cause. Those who are fully vitalized by 
Spiritualism never can desert : with them, there is 
no falling from grace. 

In Spiritualism, Protestantism has worked itself 
clear of Romanism ; cast off creed, church, and 
priest, and allowed freedom to all. 

Catholicism is a child of the old world ; Spiritual- 
ism, of the new. The former has grown old, is in 
decay : the latter is in its infancy. The result is 
easily seen : it is jiot in a distant future. The inteU 



444 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

ligence, learning, and hope of the age are on the one 
side : on the other are bigotry, superstition, and dark- 
ness. On the one hand is conservatism, or Cathol- 
icism, resting on the infallibility of a book expounded 
by infallible teachers, surrounded by gorgeous trap- 
pings calculated to excite the attention of rude na- 
tures, to stifle inquiry, denying the right of reason, 
ignoring the individual, and absorbing all into its 
masses : on the other hand, Spiritualism, setting the 
individual free, trampling on the traditions and my- 
thologies of the past, declares man to be the most 
sacred object in the universe. 

The two systems are diametrically opposed. One 
looks to the past ; the other, to the future. Which 
shall triumph ? 

Humanity never goes backward : it moves ever 
towards the right ; for there is a Divine Power which 
wrenches human actions after an omnipotent plan. 
The leaf torn from the branch by the autumn winds, 
the bird caroling its song of gladness, the sand- 
grain rolled by the tide, the drop of dew on the 
flower, — all things, from the least active of tiny life 
to the gigantic efforts of the elements, — work after 
a prescribed plan, from which there cannot be the 
least departure. So with man. He works, seem- 
ingly fortuitously ; but there is no chance. He puts 
forth his bravest efforts in the tide, striking out for 
this or that object ; but the strong current bears 
him onward to a goal well known and undeviatingly 
approached, however unknown to him. The Divine 
Energy has marked out a plan, an archetype to be 



The Old and the New. 445 

attained in future ages ; and the powers of darkness, 
though they ally themselves to hold the wheel of 
progress, will find that they do so only to be crushed 
into oblivion. They will retard it only for a time. 
The bringing-together of such opposing forces will, 
of course, produce conflict. They already begin to 
mingle in our national affairs, in the affairs of all 
great nations. 

Spiritualism in France speaks through its past 
heroes, and she feels the effects of superior wisdom. 
It is the dawn of a new day, when departed intelli- 
gences will mingle in the affairs of men. Again, 
it speaks to the Czar of Russia, through a spiritual 
medium ; and the people of the vast steppes, stretch- 
ing from the Baltic to the Pacific Ocean, from the 
Altai to the Arctic Sea, feel its breath : the chains 
of the serf fall from his festered limbs ; and millions 
arise, free men, ready for a glorious career of prog- 
ress. In England, the higher classes are impressi- 
ble to spirit thought, and its civilization begins to 
glow with new vigor. The garroted masses awake 
at the new voice. Priest and king feel that what 
they considered solid earth — earth formed of pros- 
trate human beings, cemented together by concrete 
blood and tears — has no consistency, but heaves 
like the billows of the stormy sea. The breath of 
the Divinity is abroad. They hear its call, and 
arise. 

Thus marshaled, the two forces are to wage a war 
of extermination. Not here alone, but over the 
whole world ; and the end, after misery and suffer- 



446 Arcana of Spiritualism. 

ing, will be the destruction of creeds, superstition, 
and dogmas, the severing of all shackles, whether 
of body or spirit, and the production of a universal 
brotherhood of free men. 



336. The Totality of Spiritualism 

May be expressed in a few words. Its aim is the 
aim of nature, — the production of a perfect man, 
and the elimination of a perfect spirit. That has 
been the ideal of Creative Energy through all the 
vicissitudes of the past from the chaotic beginning. 
The stars sang together, " Let us make a perfect 
man." The terrible saurians of the primeval slime, 
the gigantic brutes of prehistoric ages, chanted the 
same. 

In the perfect man, there can be no self-abase- 
ment ; there can be no appeal to any one else ; there 
can be no dwarfing of any faculty of the mind. Go 
by, blear-eyed Theology, that calls the body sinful 
and corrupt ; that would blot out the noblest emo- 
tions of the soul. Your ideal is the Stylite on the 
top of his high pillar, flagellating, lacerating, and 
starving the flesh, that his miserable soul may gain 
heaven. 

Evolved from and by the elemental forces of na- 
ture, being their concentration, or rather centre- 
stantiation, man is an integral part of the whole 
universe. In him everything is represented. He 
is capable of comprehending all, because a part of 
all. In his mind is laid the orbits of starry worlds : 



The Old and the New. 447 

solar systems and galactic universes dance through 
the congeries of his brain. He makes grooves in 
which he compels the elements to run, by embody- 
ing his ideas in matter. All he does is the concre- 
tion of pre-existing thought. The engine, — beauti- 
ful, perfect, a miracle of workmanship, — the telegraph, 
and the steamship, are ideas clothed with matter, 
embodied thoughts. 

For a moment lay aside all prejudices ; let your 
religious education be as though it had never been ; 
and calmly contemplate this being, with such ante- 
cedents, such universal relations, such boundless 
capacity, and such a destiny. Will you not scorn 
any system that offers violence and insult to the 
integrity of his character ? ay, trample underfoot the 
supposition that he is destined for anything but the 
unlimited progress of angel-life ? 

Such are the broad deductions of Spiritualism. 

Man is not to be miserable on earth to enjoy 
heaven in the hereafter. We stand in the courts of 
heaven as much this hour, we see as clearly the pres- 
ence of God now, as we shall a thousand ages hence. 
We are our own saviours, achieving our salvation. 
This is the religion of the future, the highest type 
of civilization. Other systems will linger with the 
races of men whose highest ideal they represent ; 
but from the courts of the world's intellectual nobil- 
ity they will vanish, and be spoken of as myths 
which once aided infantile progress, leading-strings 
necessary to walk by until the use of our limbs had 
been attained. 



LIST OF AUTHORITIES. 



Abercrombie. 

Alger, " The Future Life." 

Barrow, " Bible in Spain." 

Bellows, " Re-statement of Christian Doctrines." 

Berbiquin. 

Blockhouse, u Australia." 

Brittan, " Man and his Relations." 

Bruce. 

Buchanan, " Anthropology and Journal of Man." 

Brierre. 

Buchner, " Stoft und Staft." 

Bucknill and Tuche, " Insanity." 

Capron, " Modern Spiritualism: its Facts and Fanaticism." 

Cahagnet, " Celestial Telegraph." /0m 

Charlevoix. 

Child, L. M., " Progress of Religious Ideas." 

Cicero. 

Collins, " New South Wales." 

Cook, " First Voyage." 

Confucius. 

" Correlation of Forces." 

Colquhoun. 

Columbus, Letters of, 

Crow, " Night Side of Nature." 

" Curiosities of Medical Science." 

Davis, A. J. 

Davidson, Lieut. Col., " Illustrations of Magnetism." 

Deleuze, "Animal Magnetism."— » 



List of Authorities. 449 

Denton, " Soul of Things." 

Draper, Prof. 

Dubois, "Moeurs, Peoples de l'Inde." 

Esdaille, James, M.D., " Mesmerism in India." 

Fishbough, " Macrocosm and Microcosm," and Contribution 

to " Univerccelum." 
Furgerson, J. B. 

Gregory, " Lectures on Animal Magnetism." 
Gregory of Nazianzen. 

Hardinge, Emma, " History of American Spiritualism." 
Hare, Prof., " Spiritualism Scientifically Demonstrated." — ^ 
Herschel, "Astronomy." 
Howitt, " History of the Supernatural." 
Lane, " Modern Egypt." 
La Place, " Theorie au des Probabilities." 
Leger, "Animal Magnetism." 
Livy. 

Liebig, "Animal Chemistry." 
Locke. 

Keisser, Prof. 

Macacio, " Reports et Discussions," 1833. 
Mayne, "British Columbia." 
Macnish, " Philosophy of Sleep." 
Moore, " Soul and Body." 
Munzinger, " Ostafukanische Studien." 
Miiller, " Physics." 
Newman, " Fascination." 

Owen, " Footfalls on the Boundaries of Another World," ^ — 
Parsons, " Creeds." 
Parker, Theodore. 
Peucer. 

Polac, " New Zealand." 
Pliny. 

Ravenstein, " Manhat." 
Rebold, Father. 
" Resurrection of Spring." 
Reichenbach, " Dynamics of Magnetism." 



450 List of Authorities. 

Rivero and Tschudi. 

Sahagun, " Hist, de N. Espagne," quoted by Prescott 

Schoolcraft, " Indian Traits." 

Spencer, " Psychology." 

Socrates. 

" Spiritual Magazine," vol. ii. 

St. John. 

Swedenborg, "Arcana Ccelestia." 

Talmadge, " Healing of the Nations." 

Tertullian. 

Townshend, " Facts, etc., of Mesmerism." 

Tyndal, " Heat as a Mode of Motion." 

" Univerccelum." 

Vogt, Carl, "Anthropology." 

Ward, F. de W., " India and the Hindoos." 

Williams, " Figii." 

Youmans, " Chemistry." 

Zoroaster. 

Zschokke. 



INDEX. 



Adamic creation a myth, 364. 

Adam Clark, belief of in regard to 
Spiritualism, 289. 

Affinity, 97-105. 

Animal life, 112. 

Animals can influence man magnet- 
ically, 138. 

Apollonius of Tyana, 175. 

i 'Arcana," the, quoted in support of 
Materialism, 132. 

Atheism, 35. 

Atom, what is an, 93, 1 18-120. Di- 
visibility of, 121. Form of, 124. 

--"The chemical, 122. A centre of 
force, 124. 

Attributes, definition of, 119. 

Belief educational, 61. 

Berkeley's idea of the atom, 60. 

Body, how far does it affect the 
spirit ? 266. Resurrection of, a 
myth, 273. 

Brain, organ of the mind, 164. Im- 
pressibility of, 134. 

Bruce, anecdote by, 171. 

Cahagnet, experiments of, 66. 

Charity, 404. 

Change of properties by chemical 

union, 128. 
Circles, how they should be formed, 

312. Dark, value of, 72. 



Clairvoyance, 68-230. Value of as 
evidence of man's immortality, 
250. Applied to the realm of 
spirit, 230. 

Coming contest, 442. 

Compensation, 114. 

Communications from spirits, why 
contradictory, 310. All from one 
source, 16. Influence of persons 
present on, 305. Influence of the 
circle, 310. 

Conscience, its authority, 173. Test 
of conduct, 173. 

Conduction, 101. 

Conducting power of metals, 126. 

Confucius quoted, era of, 35. 

Correlation of forces in the realm of 
life, no. 

Crystallic flame, or od force, 147. 

Crystals, influence of on sensitives, 
144. 

Dead, mourn not for the, 286. 

Death, 14. Process of, 265-284. 
Maturity desirable before, 284. 
No occasion for rejoicing, 285. 
Reception of the spirit after, 286. 
Greek conception of, 271. Ter- 
rors of, 272. Of man and animals 
apparently the same, ^6. Spirit- 
ual perception of, 301. All facul- 
ties retained after, 166. 



452 



Index. 



Dreams, 316. Of animals, 318. 
Prophetic, 332. Psychometric, 
161. Why allegorical, 350. Spir- 
itual communion in, 320. 

Double presence, 237. 

Duality, 206. 

Earth, effect of its being suddenly 
brought to rest, 108. 

Eden, garden of, 353. 

Elysium, 354. 

Elements, undiscovered, 129. Prog- 
ress of the, 258. 

Electricity, 101. Positive and nega- 
tive state of, a baseless hypothe- 
k sis, 101. Quantity of, 106. Ve- 
locity of, 50. 

Election to heaven, how known by 
the church-member, 367. 

Esdaille's experiments in India, 214. 

Evil spirits, are they the cause of 
spiritual phenomena? 48. Com- 
munications referred to, 195. 

Force, 74-107. In animals, - 10 1. 
Explanation of, 95. Vital, 112. 

Formation of mineral veins, 103. 

Fox family, 64. 

Facts from Prof. Hare's experience, 
70. From Mrs. Gourlay's experi- 
ence, 71. From R. D. Owen's 
experience, j6. 

Fortune-telling, 187. 

Ghost-seeing, 156-158. 
Goethe, quoted, 198. 
Grey, quoted on magnetism, 222. 
Gregory of Nyssa, quoted, 58. 

Hades, 354. 

Hallucination, 43. Instances of, 43. 

Poet Cowper, 43. What is? 46. 

Are spiritual phenomena referable 

to, 47. 



Hare's apparatus for testing com- 
munications, 74. 

Heat, 106. Heat and cold, 99. 

Healing by laying on of hands refer- 
able to organic laws, 196. 

Heaven, popular ideas of, 362. 
Where located by the ancients, 

35 x -355- In the sun > 35 6 - The 
actual of desire, 357. 

Hell, terrors of, 370. Located in 

comets, 356. 

Hermits of the Ganges, 292. 

Ideal and real, 19, 20. 

Ideas, their force, 21. They cannot 
be kept, 22. 

Identification of spirits, 81. 

Ignorance the cause of crime, 24. 

Impenetrability, an error, 123. 

Impressibility, 181. Of the brain, 
134-184. How induced, 298. Con- 
ditions requisite for, 303. By nar- 
cotizing drugs, 298. Influence of 
mental excitement on, 299. Ex- 
altation produced by sickness, 
300. Induced by fasting, 301. 
Manifested in insanity, 303. In 
animals, 134. Impressibility and 
sympathy, 138. Natural or or- 
ganic, preferable to induced, 303. 
Mrs. Denton's testimony, 160. 
Distinction between spiritual and 
mesmeric, 53. 

Impressions never effaced from the 
mind, 240. 

Immortality, necessity of, 198. And 
science, 36. Arguments in favor 
of, 39. Why to be sought outside 
of physical matter, 264. Impos- 
sible with physical elements, 27* 
Conditions of, ^. Why asked 
for, 357. Failures of all religious 
systems to prove, 200. 

Inertia, 119. 



Index. 



453 



Infant depravity, 364. 

Influence of the external world on 
the spirit, 141. Of animals over 
animals, 179. Duration of, 159. 
Of man over man, 182. Of con- 
trolling spirits, 277. 

Infidelity, the infidel, 415. 

Instinct and intellect, 165. 

Knowledge, how obtained, 30. 

Law, as supreme in the spiritual as 
in the physical world, 260, 376. 

Leadership, its causes, 26. 

Life, what is? 269. Its purpose, 408. 
Animal and vegetable, distinction, 
in, 112. 

Light, its analogies, 97-104. Rela- 
tions of to matter, 261. 

Likes and dislikes, explained, 188. 

Living beings, a balance of forces, 

36. 

Locality, influence of on the mind, 

156. 
Laura Bridge man, 251. 

Man, a dual being, 14, 206. Per- 
fection of, 131. The ideal, 173. 
Intellectual nature of, 169. His 
desires insatiate, 170. His spirit- 
ual aspirations, 171. 

Matter, indestructible, 94. Impen- 
etrability of, a false theory, 123. 
Elerients of, 116, 117. What is? 
118. Impossibility of moving 
without force applied, 41. Moves 
without visible contact, 73. 

Materialism, 58. 

Magnetism, 105. Effect of on the 
operator, 214. Charging objects, 
159, 217. Intensifies the spiritual 
perception, 222. Not imagination, 
222. As a curative agent, 191, 
192. Why the word is retained, 
174. Among the ancients, 175. 



Esdaille's experiments in India, 
214. Application of to Spiritual- 
ism, 194. The cause of spiritual 
phenomena, 51. Magnetism and 
electricity, 146. 

Magnetic state, classification, 211. 
description of by Iamblichus, 213. 
By Tertullian, 213. One of in- 
sensibility, 214. Magnetic influ- 
ence of animals over man, man 
over animals, and over man, 177, 
178. Magnetic healing among 
savages, 194. 

Magnets, influence of, 141. Elec- 
tro-magnetism, influence of, 143. 

Mediumship, 16. Among savages, 
289. Of the Australians, 289. 
Of the Maori, 290. Of the Afri- 
cans and New Zealanders, 290. 
A physical state negative to, 306. 
Possible to all, 304. Developed 
by sleep, 349. 

Medium, how to become a, 304. 
Responsibility of the, 313. Posi- 
tion of the, 293. Not excused for 
waywardness because sensitive, 
294. Why disreputable media are 
employed, 293. Influence of on 
communications, 295. Necessity 
of culture for, 314. 

Memory quickened by death, 243. 

Mental phenomena, 52. 

Mind, does it perish? 38. Correla- 
tion of, 115. 

Miracles, in the spirit-world, 2>77i 
386. 

Motion, 96. Equivalent of, and re- 
solvability, 97. Economy of in 
living beings, 101, no. Of cos- 
mical bodies, 104. 

Mysteries, the Druidic, 273-275. 
Of the Incas, 274. 

Nervous sensibility, 181. 



454 



Index. 



Nervous sensibility, facts in proof, 

189. 
Nerves, use of, 112. 
Necessity, 399. 
Necessity of culture for mediums, 

u New Jerusalem," the, 358. 

Od force, the cause of spiritual phe- 
nomena, 52. 
Organization, 17. 
Oxygen, creator and destroyer, 114. 

Paganism and Christianity, 274. 
Passions, use of, 167. In animals, 

168. Perversion of and cause, 

169. 
Phenomena, mental, 52. 
Polarization, 102. 
Polarity of the body, 108. 
Positive, the, 59. 
Prayer, use of, 193. 
Prescience, 225. 

Present tendency of thought, 93. 
Presentiments, 322, 330. Of death, 

344- 
Prevision, 194. 

Pre-existence, 203. 

Principle, definition of, 119. 

Principles on which all agree, 13. 

Progress of the elements, 258, 259. 

Prophecy, explanation of, 244. 
Through trance, 246. Of Bona- 
parte, 246. Explained, 247. 

Prophetic dreams, 332. 

Properties, definition of, 119. 

Psychometry, 184. Evidence in sup- 
port of, J J. Applied, 185. 

Pythoness, the, and oracles, 292. 

Radicalism, 412. 

Resurrection, 273. Of Christ, 277. 
Teachings of the Bible, 278. Ob- 
jections of science, 279. 



Refinement of matter, 380, 381. 
Reformers, levelers and builders, 28. 
Reichenbach, experiments of, 141. 
Right, whatever is, 407. 

Salvation, how attained, 14, 402. 
Dependent on intellectual growth, 
172. 

Saul, consults the woman of Endor, 
176. 

Science, ancient, 92. Science and 
immortality, 36. 

Scientists, failure of to explain Spir- 
itualism, 40. 

Second sight, 245. 

Seeress of Prevorst, 231. 

Senses, are they reliable, 42, 60. 
Deception of, 43. 

Sensations while drowning, 241, Im- 
perishable, 242. Abnormal in sleep 
and disease, 153. 

Sensitives, influence of the earth, 
planets, sun, etc., on, 153, 154. 

Sensibility of the nerves, 131. 

Sleep, 315. May be development 
of mediumship, 349. Relation of 
night and day to, 155. Sleep- 
walking, 319. 

Somnambulism, 319. 

Sound, compared with electricity, 
103, 104. 

Space, is there such an entity? 125. 

Spheres of influence, blending of in- 
dividual, 163. 

Spirit, definition of, 61, 201, 266. 
Origin of, 15, 203. Eternal prog- 
ress of, 200. Organization of, 255. 
Destiny of, 15. Loses nothing at 
death, 166, 209. Condition of af- 
ter death, 250. Does it leave the 
body in trance? 336. Compre- 
hension of, 91. Identification of, 
57. Independent of the body, 
251. 



Index. 



455 



Spirit-healing, charlatanism connect- 
ed with, 190. 

Spirit-body, words of Paul, 207. 
Words of St. Augustine, 207. 

Spirit-elements realities, 259. 

Spirit-presence, Victor Hugo quoted, 
292. 

Spirit-world, the, 15. Where lo- 
cated, 378. 

Spirit-zones, 382, 392. 

Spirit-communications, how obtained 
by the eastern hermits, 292. By 
the Indians, 292. Relation of to 
the spirit-world, 388. 

Spirits, influence of, 17. Employ- 
ment of in heaven, 361. Of ani- 
mals, 260. 

Spiritualism, definition of, 13, 426. 
Incentives furnished by, 17. Ob- 
jects of, 17. Can have no creed, 
17. Qui bono? 8^. Personal 
experience in, 8^. Science op- 
posed to, 40. Why not given to 
the world before ? 61. Ideal man 
of, 407. Not new, 63. First mod- 
ern manifestations of, 64. Advent 
of in France, 66. Is it electricity ? 
50? Is it magnetism? 51. Is it the 
work of evil spirits? 48. Parker's 
opinion of, 58. A democratic re- 
ligion, 429. Religious elements 
of, 394. Leaderless, 430. Incen- 
tives of, 396. Its persistency and 
extension, 433. The essence of 



philosophy, 303. Has revealed no 
new moral truth, 434. Pleasures of 
a belief in, 437. Totality of, 446. 

Spiritual phenomena, legerdemain, 
41. 

Spiritual universe, how formed, ^77, 
Where located, 378. 

Spiritual beings, of what composed, 
202. 

Spiritual body, origin of, 266. 

Spiritual attraction and repulsion, 
260. 

Spiritual ether, 184. 

Spiritualists, who are, 13. 

Sun, force from, 263. The fountain 
of life, 109. 

Superstition, 291. 

Swedenborg, instance of his impres- 
sibility, 176. 

Trance, how produced by savages, 

194. 
Test of truthfulness, 197. 
Testimony, negative, 60. 
Thought, independent of the senses, 

2 55- 
Transformation of force, 100. Cycle 

of, no. 
Ultimate of nature's plan, 282. 
Vital force, 112. 
World of the dead, 354. 
Zschokke, experience of, 189. 



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